Thinking Before You Speak

I spend quite a bit of time reading blogs and articles from various writers. They say that one of the best ways to improve your writing technique is to actually read more, and I take this heart, so I tend to consume quite a bit of material in a single day. I’ve thought about trying to capture statistics on how many blog posts and news articles I read in day, but it would be pretty inaccurate. On slow days I’ll read as many as 20. On other days, I’ll read as much as 100. Pretty ridiculous I know, but I like the idea of information consumption.

A lot of the blogs I read are centered about christian spirituality. As many would come to expect, I have some expectations when it comes to the content of these websites, but every now and again I’ll find that something that truly surprises me; both good things and bad things.

Yesterday, I encountered something that caught me off guard.

There’s a particular writer whose work I really respect and I would consider myself a big fan of his material. I was reading a recent blog post from this writer, when I encountered something that kind of surprised me.

He used an expletive in his post.

I know some of you reading this are going to instantly condemn me for judging him based on a standard that’s different from everyone else, but bear with me for a second. There’s a lot of debate in the christian community about using foul language, and arguably more popular viewpoint taken by those in the discussion is one of opposition to its use in our vocabulary.

Of course, most of us as believers in Jesus Christ and His divine Word choose to seek the answer in the Word, and for my part, I think it explains the issue pretty clearly:

“No rotten talk should come from your mouth, but only what is good for the building up of someone in need, in order to give grace to those who hear. “ Ephesians 4:29 (HCSB)

On top of the moral issues surrounding foul language, I find that using it makes you look primitive and stupid. That may sound like harsh words, but again, I want you to think about this. Try writing out a paragraph or so about your day. Don’t use expletives. Then, try to add some expletives in your paragraph. When you’re done with that, read through what you just wrote. Doesn’t it sound stupid to throw curse words in your speech and writing?

The point of this is to get you to think before you speak or write. Use words that pass your point along without making you sound like a vulgar idiot.