Words are just words. Right? How is it that some words can be classified as “acceptable” to speak and other words are “unacceptable” to speak? How can most words in the English language be normal, ordinary words but a select few be pulled out and deemed “vulgar” or “profane”? If God does not specify which words are appropriate and which ones are not, how can I know the difference?
Obviously, with words having different meanings in different languages around the world and in different cultures throughout the centuries, the Bible could not possibly list all profane words for all languages in all cultures for all time. But, God does categorize, in principle, words that He deems unacceptable, and with careful and honest study, “The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable” (Prov. 10:32). You know words that fit the following.
God condemns “corrupt” words (Eph. 4:29). These are words that are rotten, “bad, evil, unwholesome, in a moral sense.” You know words like this.
God condemns “foolish talking” (Eph. 5:4). These are words that are “foolish, dull, stupid.”
God condemns “coarse jesting” (Eph. 5:4). This denotes a “risqué wit” that utters vulgar or off-color jokes.
God condemns “filthy language” (Col. 3:8). “Filthiness” is condemned in Ephesians 5:4 as a “behavior that flouts social and moral standards, shamefulness, obscenity.” In Colossians 3:8, the focus is on “speech of a kind that is generally considered in poor taste, obscene speech, dirty talk” that is considered shameful.
God condemns words that “allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness” (2 Pet. 2:18). These are words that paint pictures and lead to thoughts of “unbridled lust, indecency, wantonness” and illicit sexual desires and conduct.
God condemns “malicious words” (3 John 10). These are words that are “morally or socially worthless, wicked, evil, bad, base, vicious, degenerate.”
Knowing that God is aware of every syllable that proceeds from my tongue and that I will be judged for every word I speak (Matt. 12:36), my prayer should be, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer” (Psa. 19:14). God can and will help you!