Defiling Words

Sunset at farm, Biltmore Estate.

In Sunday school yesterday, we were talking about a passage from James:

but no one can tame the tongue—a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and brackish water? Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters, yield olives, or a grapevine figs? No more can salt water yield fresh.  James 3:8-12

The conversation turned very literal at that point. We bemoaned the state of society and the habit some have of cursing.

I have, in my time, asked people to refrain from the habit, especially when in the company of children. That said, I don't think literal cursing is what this passage is about.

The most defiling words that come from my mouth are not curse words. They are plain, simple words that hurt others. They are the words for which I need to apologize, the words that damage relationship, that lower self-esteem. They are the words that I wish I could take back.

It is those words that are defiling, not my (albeit) infrequent use of curse words.