Whenever somebody mentions modesty, we usually think of “modesty” in terms of appearance and behaviour, but never about speech. To be honest with you all, when we decided to write about modesty, I really thought that I wasn’t the best person to talk about it, because your girl does not always say the right things. I am the type of person who can be careless when I talk and sometimes I don’t realise that the things I say can really hurt another person. I can be quite outspoken and often when I get really passionate about something, I begin to cuss, especially when I am angry and it’s like, "Mary! Why are you speaking like this!? Contain yourself.
I remember at one of my prayer meetings we had a teaching about modesty - particularly on modesty of speech. It was an eye-opening talk because I never realised how we truly need to think before we speak. The talk outline was based on a Catholic video by Fr Ripperger, a famous Catholic theologian priest in America (check him out on YouTube! He’s great!). The amazing sister that presented the teaching really stressed that we need to practice speaking virtuously. It means that our speech must suit the time and place, without the use of profanity and vulgarity. We should never use cuss words or the Lord’s name in vain. Saying "OMG" or "Jesus!" is considered as profanity because the expression is not used to glorify God. However, saying those terms in prayer is fine as it used for its proper time and place. What really hit me big time was that we even need to be careful of the words we use as substitutes such as "jeez", as it is short for Jesus and is misusing and mistreating His name and honour.
You are probably thinking, "that's just too extreme mate!?" Don’t get me wrong, I totally agree that it is hard to do this. We live in a culture where we are exposed to these everyday sayings and it’s just normal to say or even express how we feel regardless of the expressions we choose to use and what these words really mean. Just the other day, I went back to my ways of being outspoken with my thoughts and I accidentally swore, which I am not proud of. I am not trying to say that you shouldn’t express yourself but rather we need to be aware of our speech and to use it to glorify our God. If we wouldn’t swear before the Lord, why should we swear at all - when He sees all and is everywhere! Our speech has such incredible power! We can actively choose to express ourselves wisely, without using the Lord’s name and the use of cuss words. God gave us this gift to bring blessings and to spread His goodness to the world. So, we need to use virtuous speech my dear sisters. We need to be cautious about what we say and guard our mouths. As Veronica said in her previous post, we need to carry ourselves with dignity and reflect the image of God.
“No foul word should ever cross your lips; let your words be for the improvement of others, as occasion offers, and do good to your listeners.”
Ephesians 4:29
mary.
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