day no. 16,291: for eff's sake, stop cussing so much

Ephesians 4:29

Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for edifying, as fits the occasion, that it may impart grace to those who hear.

Cussing is a kind of cheap authority. It is a lazy way to be taken seriously. Profanity forces people to take notice without doing anything worth noticing. 

Cussing is a kind of counterfeit currency. It claims value without being backed by anything. It is inflationary. It reduces the buying power of words by flooding the market. 

Casual cussing waters down the whiskey

It dulls the edge of its blade by banging it around. It is no longer edgy in any sense.

It is easy to grab at grubby words. They are always right there in the gutter where you left them. A foul mouth is easily found.

Speaking with true authority, however, is hard work. It cannot be arrived at by shortcuts. Which is why authoritative words are rarely spoken.

Matthew 7:28-29

When Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

Cussing does have a context. The coarse word may be the right word. There is a time where you really need some grit to match the roughness of the surface you are working with.

Ecclesiastes 3:1

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.

This requires discernment, however, and a concern for clarity, not merely an appearance of authority.

1 Corinthians 14:8-10

For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle? So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye shall speak into the air. There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them is without signification.

A trumpet blast is sharp and abrasive, yet it calls the troops to war. But in a world full of cacophony, a clear blast is muted. But this is what casual cussing does. It makes a call to war indistinguishable. It drowns it in noise.

The opposite error of trashing the trumpets also leaves them silenced. It ignores the fact that a sharp blast is sometimes needed to get a rise out people. But if there is no battle cry, no one battles, and everyone loses.

All that to say, for eff's sake, stop cussing so much. Save your f-bombs for declaring war. Take it seriously enough to plan if, when, and where you are going to drop it and whether or not it's worth it. In other words, do not curse anything you are not willing to destroy.