Put away perversity from your mouth; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. (Proverbs 4:24)
Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.
(Ephesians 5:1-4)
My wife and I are friends with a couple that we’ve known for years. They are a godly couple, and we love them dearly. Even though they live hours away, we try to get together each year during the holidays.
Because they have known us for years, they knew us when we were much more spiritually immature. In fact, they knew me years before I became a Christian. During the early years of our relationship, we developed a terrible habit of “coarse joking” with them. Our get-togethers were peppered with sexual innuendo and off-color jokes.
While all of us have grown in our walk, I’m ashamed to admit that this is an easy habit for us to slip back into when we get together. It’s a comfortable routine in our relationship, and we’ve found it difficult to break. I really have to guard my mouth gate when I’m around them to protect me from the temptation to say inappropriate things.
Maybe you have a friend or friends like these. When you are around them, it’s like you take seven steps backwards in your spiritual walk. I mentioned earlier, our flesh loves habits. It doesn’t matter if they are good habits or bad habits. It loves the comfortable feel of them. If you find it difficult to break out of the “obscenity” or “course joking” habits with one or more of your friends, you might need to limit the time you spend with them. This gate-keeping rule isn’t just for your spiritual walk; it’s also for theirs. You might be a stumbling block to them, pulling them down into ruts that they thought they had gotten out of. If the friend is not a believer, what kind of example are you setting?
If the person you are saying inappropriate things to is a woman, you are in danger of a more serious sexual transgression. Sexual innuendo can be a way of testing the waters to see if the other person is interested. It’s an advanced form of flirting, like sending a messenger outside your city walls to see if the Enemy would like to come play. Even if you don’t intend it to be taken that way, the other person can misinterpret your signals. At the least, it can cause people to question the health or existence of your walk with the Lord. Don’t play with this verbal dynamite.
