Years ago a man said to me, “I’ve just paid £5 to have a good swear!” He had actually been in a solicitor’s office, and with his hand on a Bible, had sworn by Almighty God in order to confirm a legal transaction.

This reverent and sincere use of an oath is acceptable with God, but the 3rd of God’s 10 Commandments issues this solemn warning, “Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain.” [ Exodus 20:7 ] The irreverent and meaningless use of the name of God as a swear word is a great sin. The Lord Jesus said, “Let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’, and your ‘No’, ‘No’. For whatever is more than this is from the evil one.” [ Matthew 5:37 ] In these few words Jesus accurately points to Satan as the source of all swearing.

Swearing is a thoroughly stupid and degrading habit that all sensible people should avoid like the plague. But it is much more serious than this. The phenomenon of swearing provides overwhelming evidence for the existence of God and the Devil! God is the Devil’s greatest enemy so the Devil loves to hear God’s holy name cheapened and dragged through the mire of filthy language, and flippantly used in empty conversation.

It’s significant that Jesus spoke about a rich man in hell who begged that his tongue might be cooled with a drop of water. [ Luke 16:24 ] Swearing is a sin of the tongue that the Apostle James said can be set on fire by hell! [ James 3:6 ] Just as a little fire can destroy a forest, so uncontrolled tongues can destroy nations. But James also said, “If we can control our tongue we can control our whole body?” [ James 3:2 ] Watch this space!