“9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.“ (James 3:9-10)
One way to change your life is to change your mind. One sign of a changing mind is a changing tongue. Years ago I was a swearer. I wasn’t a major profanity person but I used some language. And yes, I was a Christian then too. Then I found out I was going to be a father so I made the decision to change. If I was going to tell my child to be a certain way, shouldn’t I be the living example of that way?
To do this I made certain to not fill my life with things that were filled with what I didn’t want. I changed my music listening, reading, TV viewing. No, I didn’t become a fanatic about it, but I did make deliberate decisions. An example would be TV. If a show happened to have a bad word in it as part of a scene because the scene was emotional or something, okay, I got it. If the whole show was laced with it, and had scenes that sensationalized things it shouldn’t, I stayed away.
The same thing went for music. Although for that I mostly went to Contemporary Christian music. I like it. I still listen to my old 80s music for fun. And there are some music acts I like even now. But I still heed my initial parameters. And let me tell you, it is sad when you hear a song with a good beat and then they start in with the language or sexist or derogatory content.
You can’t be two minds on a matter or it comes out in your language. If you give lip service to a subject you will get found out. People like to think you are what you are. No, you are what you turn yourself into. It’s been over a decade since I made myself a promise to watch my language. I continue to fulfill that promise. I’m still cautious of my viewing and listening indulgences. I figure if I’m not participating, that’s one less vote, so to speak, for that type of content.
Do you think you can change your life by changing your mind? Can you change your views of the world by changing your mind? Pick something this week that you know you shouldn’t be doing or saying and work at altering your life by finding out why you say that and then stop. For me, I found that by not having all those music and TV influences I was able to easily stop using language, even when people around me at work were using it. See what you can do this week.
Much Respect
Ronovan
ronovanwrites 
I completely agree. The same thing happened when my husband and I became parents. Although he will curse around friends. I am of the mindset that people shouldn’t curse at all. But I definitely agree that music and TV and the things we read influencevery us strongly and changing that will change us. What you put into your heart will come out publicly. Thanks for sharing your thoughts
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I agree with your viewpoint. A lot of people my age can’t get through two sentences without cussing. I’m the kind who tends to watch my language at all times. Swearing is absolutely not allowed at home and it’s become a habit now.
The amount of sexism and derogatory language in mainstream media right now is distributing. I gave up listening to pop music at some point and drifted toward classical music and original soundtracks of motion pictures for the music there was much more beautiful and meaningful. Around a decade ago, the music industry in India frowned upon songs glorifying a lifestyle of alcohol and drugs, but nowadays those songs are all the rage. I feel like I’m one of the few people in my generation who find those kinds of lyrics meaningless.
In July I realised that the lack of forethought I put into my posts is what made me miss out on most days and decided to schedule the easy ones before hand. It took a huge load off my shoulders and I’m beginning to procrastinate about my writing a little less. A little change in my mindset is helping me achieve more in the same time available. That’s the most recent example of a change in my life I could think of. Wonderful post. 🙂
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Excellent! Thanks for the reminder that we have the ability to change!
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Ever so true and wise that as a parent we need to teach by example. Congratulations to you on the change in your life. It has brought you much comfort in knowing that your child visually sees your example. What then becomes of our children after such example is out of our hands. Sigh. Thank you for this reminder.
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Couldn’t resist the urge to share some Abba wisdom And inspiration.
If you change your mind
If you need me let me know
Take a chance on me
😎
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Thank you for this! Please keep up content like this, it is very helpful and God is using it to help other people.
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