Sunday, November 29, 2009

Interjection Woe

I am grieved to see a lack of reverence for our Almighty God more and more in the world, especially in America. People use God's name in vain left and right.

"You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses His name." Exodus 20:7

This is very serious! It is sad that even some Christians use God's name in vain. I believe (hope) most of them do so without realizing it. It is bad enough when they use it orally as a habit. In addition, I have come across several blogs and comments on Facebook where Christians misuse God's name in their writing. When you interject "g_sh", "g_lly", or "g_e" (add o in the first two blanks and e in the third blank), you use God's name in vain because the former two are a euphemistic variation of God and the latter is a euphemistic shortening of Jesus (see dictionary). "OMG" is included (I don't even want to type those 3 letters here).

Another sad thing is that many foreigners desire to act and speak like Americans so they adopt American interjections including those three mentioned above. Next time you are about to either exclaim with delight or express surprise, please avoid the forewarned "interjection woe."

"Holy and awesome is His name." Psalm 111:9b

~Please visit here for the links to other Spiritual Sundays posts. Thanks so much to Charlotte and Ginger for hosting Spiritual Sundays every week.  Have a blessed day in the Lord, everyone!

15 comments:

Debbie said...

I know what you mean. This really bothers me too. It is like nails on a chalkboard. Have a wonderful week. Blessings, Debbie

Musings of A Minister said...

What a timely message! This something that needs to be heard and heeded. Thank you for posting.

Ginger~~Enchanting Cottage said...

Working in the public I see and hear this all the time. It is so sad. Thank-you for this post today.
God Bless,
Ginger

Cathy said...

Thanks for pointing those out to me. I did not know that. I don't use those words now. But the OMG, etc. is really bad.

Sandi@ Rose Chintz Cottage said...

I am in total agreement! There is a lack of reverence and holiness everywhere today, including the church. I remember when I was a little girl, you could hear a pin drop in church before the service started because people were sitting with heads bowed and in prayer. Today, they talk to everybody but
God before the service. And the language is apalling! It hurts my heart every time I hear a Christian take His name in vain. I'm glad you pointed out the use of g-e, g-lly, g-sh, because someone needs to speak out against it. I'm glad you did! Nice to hear Keith Green in the background too! Thank you and have a wonderful Sunday.

Blessings,
Sandi

Charlotte said...

I agree with you. I cringe every time I hear God's name taken in vain. It's bad enough when people in the world do it, but even worse when Christians do it. I hate those letters OMG. They are used so often even by Christians. Thank you for this post.
Blessings,
Charlotte

Dayle ~ A Collection of Days said...

I agree wholeheartedly. It reminds me of the sign I saw once that said, "If you must curse, use your own name." And it was signed, "God."

Amen!

Richele McFarlin said...

Awesome post...and that's why I have an award for you! http://underthegoldenappletree.blogspot.com/2009/11/bloggy-business-awards-and-christmas.html

prashant said...

God before the service. And the language is apalling! It hurts my heart every time I hear a Christian take His name in vain.

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Anonymous said...

I've had an absolutely interesting time study Yahweh's name, which I wrote about it here: http://aponderingheart.com/blog/?p=2997

I know people use this term as a misuse of his name, but I've come to realize his name isn't really god. Rather that is a description of who he is as many have done with pagan gods. When someone, believer or not, refers to god it could mean any {supposed] god they want it to.

Still it's not very ladylike to be saying this phrase or it's slang. It can be a hard habit to break!

kymber said...

Great post!
It saddens me to see God's name used so lightly. I find it so hard to believe that people could use some of the abbreviations on Facebook without a thought as to what they are really saying! It really goes to show how FAR we have strayed from what we SHOULD hold most dear -
Thanks for the great reminder today!
Blessings to you,
Kymber

Mimi N said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mimi N said...

Our neighbor kids come over here and use the Lord's name in vain all the time. I grew up using it that way and still hear my mom say it all the time. I think I've accidently said it a handful of times over the last 20 yrs and feel terrible when I do.

My kids are growing up not using Gd's name in vain, but they do say "gosh" and I'm ok with that. To me, it can become legalistic if we start going too far. What if I say, "holy cow", "oh my goodness", "jeepers" or "jeez louise"?

Please don't get me wrong. I agree with what you said about society's misuse of our Creator's name. We do need to have grace for those who don't know any better, including other Christians.

Don't mean to make anyone upset by my post.

Blessings,
Mimi

Erin said...

I never knew that all of those "g" words were spinoffs of God/Jesus. I am a see-it-for-myself kind of person and Merriam Webster proved it! Wow. I don't really say those words that often but I will try to do better. At the same time, I am not going to get "wrapped around the axle" about it. I agree that we should strive to do our best but I make mistakes daily. To be honest, there are bigger problems in my life that should be addressed...like the amount of time I pray and the amount of time I spend helping people who need it. I am thankful for your burden, though, because I never knew what my words meant. I have read through some of your other posts too...I love your message! I am your newest follower!
Thank you for sharing your heart!
Erin

Anonymous said...

Nice post. I agree that all should be carefule not to say those words you mentioned. But it is also good to remember that God is a title and not a name. There are many called god.

"For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,)" 1 Corinthians 8:5

But for true Christians there is only one God.

"That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth." Psalm 83:18

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