The Importance of Language

The other day at work a coworker witnessed me taking a salad from the refigerator and commented that I was "being good" and it made him feel guilty. I thought to myself, "Does my salad make me moral and your junk food (his words not mine) make you immoral?" What if I just downed 7 brownies and a Coca Cola at my desk before making my way to the kitchen to grab my salad, would that then mean I was "being bad"?

Another time and place I witnessed someone handing out free informational materials to people passing by, and someone wishing to have the information said, "Can I steal one of those from you?"

In another case, I witnessed someone speaking at a gathering and they said, "Please turn to page 7. Oh, I'm sorry, I lied, turn to page 11."

Witnessing these scenarios, particularly when professing Christians are involved, makes me aware of my own language. In our society, we are very casual with language, and it's easy to go with the flow in this regard (I'm guilty of it myself). But, as Christians, does our language reflect the God we serve and the theology we profess? Should we be so quick to attach morality to how we look or what we eat? Are lying and stealing words we should casually throw around in daily conversation as if they mean nothing?

Words have meaning, and I am constantly challenged to remember that in my daily conversations as I interact with Christians and non-Christians alike.