Teen's Talk - Wash It Out

Back in the day when I was a young child, there wasn’t any timeouts or endless hours of my parents pleading with me to behave, There were only two effective punishments; the good old fashion belt on your backside and the unforgettable washing the mouth out with soap. Every time I used profanity, my mother and father wouldn’t hesitate to cleanse my mouth with soap. Boy times have changed, the other day I discovered that people don’t even need a reason to swear anymore, they just do it! During the last two weeks I conducted a study of swearing at school, in my community, and even at church events. I listened as swear words were dropped by the second. (Leviticus 24: 13-16) 13 ‘Then the LORD said to Moses: 14 "Take the blasphemer outside the camp. All those who heard him are to lay their hands on his head, and the entire assembly is to stone him. 15 “Say to the Israelites: 'If anyone curses his God, he will be held responsible;” 16 “Anyone who blasphemes the name of the LORD must be put to death. The entire assembly must stone him. Whether an alien or native-born, when he blasphemes the Name, he must be put to death.”Yes, I am guilty, two swear words came from my mouth this week. The problem is that nobody chooses to wash it out anymore; I know not to swear in front of my parents now. Adults aren’t even trying to set examples for the children, they are swearing constantly. Teens are finding it hard to relate to adults that are teaching us not to swear in church and in school but as soon as they are with that same adult, outside of the mentoring program on the basketball court or at a game, that adult is swearing. Adults, please remember that teens are just like babies they mimic the behavior and language that they hear and see, teens are inspiring to be their mentors someday. We are constantly watching and listening even when you think that the mentoring is over. How are we going to tell younger people to wash it out when we can’t wash it out ourselves? I know we are too old to wash it out with the old fashion punishment of the bar soap in our mouths but we still have to hold ourselves accountable and find alternative ways to wash it out. Please join me in asking for God’s help in deliverance of profanity. Pray that God will deliver you from this sin and annoying habit, and he will. We are quick to brand the word of God on people when they are in the wrong but when we do wrong it seems like we become clueless to the messages we are trying to instill in others. So before we tell others to wash it out we must wash it out ourselves.Q. Do you think swearing is allowed in any settings when you are mad? “Well, to me swearing is sort of a reflex. There are people who just have to swear. Personally, I don’t swear when I get mad, but I’m not going to lie, I have yelled out a few words in Spanish and sometimes in English. So, I guess it shouldn’t be allowed because it’s rude and they aren’t nice words.” Ariel Israel Sosa — Kelloggsville High School
“Most of the times people reach a point that leads them to swearing when they get mad. When I get mad sometimes I say a swear word but that barely happen. Sometimes it’s difficult for some people to not swear at all, but for me I can control it.”Henok Melaku — Kelloggsville High School
We have to wash it out when we are choosing to expose young children to words that shouldn’t be in their vocabulary. We have to wash it out when we feel comfortable recording records that has nothing but derogatory terms and vulgar language incorporated in them. We have to wash it out when we feel comfortable walking down the street and feel it is o.k. to yell out swear words.
Q. Why do you swear? “It is a bad habit that I only picked up after I married your dad. I never swore when I was young, my parents didn’t allow it. Your dad swears and I picked up some of those awful words from him. I pray that God will deliver me from profanity and he has. I have been improving, I have only had to pay for three bad words in the last six months and I put that payment into my offering at church.”
Q. What other steps have you taken in your personal journey to end profanity in your life? “I am a Christian first. I am trying to only promote Christian businesses and it takes a lot of dedication. I won’t give my business to a business that has profanity music playing or open profanity conversations. It is hard to find a nice place to take my sons or daughters, even to get their hair done because of the language, music, or videos that the establishments portrays. ” Oscatte Hendler
I’m going to share with you all, if there is a little dirt somewhere it must be cleaned because if you let dirt go it will spread out of control. Dirt is like our mouths, when there is nothing but profanity in them we must “Wash It Out”. Blog me. Let me know if you are ready to make the commitment to “Wash it Out” as my mother did. It is difficult, and she still struggles sometimes; but she said that she had a habit and gave it over to God. Can you do the same? BLOG me, and let’s talk about it.