Happy **** Birthday???

I walked into CVS today with a mission -- I had three birthday cards to buy, for friends’ upcoming birthdays. I made a beeline for the colossal aisle dedicated to cards, and was happy to find that a significant portion of it was dedicated solely to birthday cards. I figured with all these choices, I could easily find “the perfect card”. (Now, I don’t particularly LIKE birthday-card-shopping, because I can never find, in my opinion, “the perfect card”. But like I said -- there were SO MANY choices here!)

Hours later (OK, not quite, but you get the point), I still had nothing. But you would be amazed at some of the things I found. Apparently, birthday cards NOT containing curse words are in the minority. It’s awful! Now, call me naïve, but I’ve always assumed that cursing is something we should AVOID, not sanction by using profanity in birthday cards! Have we, as a society, become so used to and therefore immune to the effects of cursing that we don’t even notice the fact that foul language has permeated nearly every part of our lives? TV shows and commercials use cursing all the time. Even many PG movies contain a curse word or two; I’ve even stumbled across a few G movies that have questionable language!! Books, music, talk show hosts, websites; every form of media possible -- and now, even in birthday cards. It finally got to the point where I‘d found a card that said, “Happy **** 13th Birthday”. Did you see that? 13th birthday -- this card wasn’t even geared toward adults! At that point, I’d had enough and I left the store.

I wish I could say that maybe it’s just this particular store; that not all birthday cards are that bad, but the truth is, this is the fourth store I’ve been in that is packed with inappropriate cards. Personally, I find it absolutely revolting.

“…bless and do not curse.” -- Romans 12:14

I absolutely, positively CAN NOT STAND profanity. And there are so many reasons why…I think that use of curse words makes you look like you are an uneducated individual who is unable to come up with a more fitting and appropriate word to describe whatever situation you’re currently in. I think in some cases, cursing is just a bad habit (in which case -- break the habit!!). But, I also think cursing is often used simply as a way to “fit in”. Whether we intend to or not, our society sends the message that using curse words makes you special, important, even “cool”. We need to do our best to fight that image, and declare to the world the profanity is simply unacceptable.

The first step in doing this is obvious: Don’t allow yourself to indulge in the temptation to use curse words. But this alone is not enough. Edmund Burke once said, “All that is require for evil to triumph is for a good man to stand by and do nothing”. Are you standing by and doing nothing? Or are you ready to stand up for what you believe in? You must also make it clear to your friends that you will not listen to inappropriate language.

“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” --Romans 12:21

Don’t kid yourself, and pretend that cursing isn’t that big of a deal, or that God doesn’t really mind, or that if you only do it once in a while, it doesn’t matter. The fact is: it matters. God states it pretty clearly in Leviticus: “Do not misuse my name. I am the LORD your God, and I will punish anyone who misuses my name.”

There are so many GOOD things we can do with our speech -- God didn’t give it to us so we can curse! God clearly states what he expects of us in Ephesians:

“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen…Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.” --Ephesians 4:29; 5:4

I never did find those original three birthday cards, but that's OK -- God had a plan there, too. I ended up calling each of my friends to really wish them a Happy Birthday, and the resulting conversations were wonderful!!

Speaking of birthdays, today happens to be my brother's birthday....Happy Birthday, J! Love ya!