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 Is cursing / swearing / cussing a sin or wrong in God's eyes? I have a lot of non-
Christian friends who curse. Where does the bible talk about this?1

To determine whether cussing is a ³sin,´ we need to first discuss what sin is, and second define
what cursing, swearing, or cussing2 is.

The Bible tells us that sin is the transgression of the law (1 John 3:4) and rebellion against God
(Deuteronomy 9:7, Joshua 1:18). It is furthermore described as imaginations of the unrenewed
heart (Genesis 6:5; 8:21), defiling (Proverbs 30:12; Isaiah 59:3), disgraceful (Proverbs 14:34),
and unrighteous (1 John 5:17), among other things.

Cursing is our way of describing words that are, for the most part, culturally or socially
unacceptable. It is a slippery slope, however, to define a curse word because words are always
taking on new meanings. Some curse words in the English language are actually authorized
words to describe authentic things but have taken on a new meaning as time has progressed.
Because of this, it is nearly impossible to create a canonized list of words that are considered
curses. Nevertheless, it can be concluded that there are words that are purely crude or
demeaning and are therefore unequivocally curse words.

It needs to be understood that cursing can also include any verbal expression of a word that may
not necessarily be considered a traditional curse word. This means that the understanding of
cursing needs to be expanded to not only include culturally or socially unacceptable words, but
any word that is used to demean another individual or express extreme dissatisfaction with a
particular situation, especially when that dissatisfaction is directed toward God. Christians are
often guilty of substituting more culturally acceptable words in place of unacceptable words to
describe their dissatisfaction with a situation, or even in reference to an individual. These are
called euphemisms and cannot be considered justified alternatives.

Scripture has much to say about how Christians ought to use their tongues. Jesus specifically
taught that what comes out of a man¶s mouth is evidence of what is in his heart. Luke 6:45 says,
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.´3

Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:29, ³

 



 

 
 














 .´ John MacArthur has written
of this verse, ³The word for µcorrupt¶ refers to that which is foul or rotten, such as spoiled fruit or
putrid meat. Foul language of any sort should never pass a Christian¶s lips, because it is totally
out of character with his new life in Christ.´4 The final portion of the verse offers a worthy use
of our tongue²³what is good for edification.´
1
Question edited for clarity.
2
For the remainder of this article, these three terms will be represented solely by the word ³cursing.´
3
All Scripture references are taken from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) unless otherwise noted.
4
John MacArthur, 


(Word Publishing: Tennessee, 1997), 1810.
James gives us three illustrations from nature to demonstrate the sinfulness of cursing: ³W

 



  




 

  







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´ (James 3:9-12).

Finally, 1 Peter 3:10 says, ³ '
  



 

 
  



    




.´

We can conclude that from the biblical definition of sin, our overview of cursing, and Scripture¶s
many expressions on the use of our tongue that it is without question a sin to curse. As
Christians, we are expected to rest on the promises of God, ³
  







 



 



!´ (2 Corinthians 7:1).
Cursing is contrary to resting on God¶s promises for it is a failure to follow the Lord¶s greatest
commandments²to love God and to love people (Matthew 22:37-40). When we curse an
individual, we do not love people and when we curse God, we do not love Him. Thankfully,
God forgives us of our sins through the redemption found only in Jesus Christ (John 3:16).

Jared C. Wellman