Red Letters/Black Letters: Day 21 - In Danger of Hellfire

"When he had called the multitude to Himself, He said to them, 'Hear and understand; 

Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth,

this defiles a man.'" Matthew 15:10-11

The concept most likely strikes you as odd nowadays, but there are provisions in the Mosaic Law (Torah) that divided animals/food into categories of clean and unclean. If you were to digest an unclean animal you were also deemed unclean, i.e. you sinned against God.

For those of us who follow Jesus, though, these regulations are no longer binding. For us, Jesus says, it is no longer the food that goes into our mouths but rather what comes out of it, our words, that cause our sin.

* WE NOW INTERRUPT OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED ADMONITION ABOUT CURSE WORDS TO BRING YOU THIS SPECIAL BULLETIN*

Some people, no most people, have a set of words that you are not allowed to say, in any situation, ever, and in their minds it is these particular words that make you sin. I personally think that it is the way you use your words, not their particular power, positive or negative. Screaming an 'obscenity' when you hit your thumb with a hammer may not cause you to sin, but calling someone stupid just may. Why? When you degrade someone you are negating the Spirit of God in that person. When you call someone ugly you are forgetting their creation in the image of God. When you exclude someone you are excluding a child of God. When you say F*^k when you hit your thumb you are saying a word. Do you see the difference?

+ Do you have a list of words you don't say?

+ How did you choose your list?