Curse Words: How Serious?

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I was impatient with someone and all of a sudden a curse word popped into my head against that person. I didn’t mean it at all and was shocked that I could have thought this so I quickly dismissed it. Does anyone know whether it was a sin or not and if so, how serious (mortal or venial)? I know for it to be mortal I need full consent and I would have never consented to this on purpose. It just came to my mind all of a sudden.
 
i wouldnt beat yourself up about it however dont make it a habit. there is a verse in the bible about how good speech cannot be mixed with bad speech for the good is taken from a “well”…

being a christian means that through our actions and this means speech we are exampels and role models and people can notice we dont curse and can change themselves… not only that but swear words are ugly and usually come along with mindless chatter that dont build you or anybody up, their ugly and unattractive, i too have a problem someitmes of backsliding when with friends but deep down in my heart i know idont like to curse and im gonna change over and over how ever many times it takes

🙂
 
catholicgirl97 said:
I was impatient with someone and all of a sudden a curse word popped into my head against that person. I didn’t mean it at all and was shocked that I could have thought this so I quickly dismissed it. Does anyone know whether it was a sin or not and if so, how serious (mortal or venial)? I know for it to be mortal I need full consent and I would have never consented to this on purpose. It just came to my mind all of a sudden.
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Don’t feel bad at all. As long as you reject it instantly, there is absolutely NO concern to be had.

I often have various language pop into my head in certain situations, but I always just reject the idea instantly, no sin committed. 👍
 
catholicgirl97 said:
I was impatient with someone and all of a sudden a curse word popped into my head against that person. I didn’t mean it at all and was shocked that I could have thought this so I quickly dismissed it. Does anyone know whether it was a sin or not and if so, how serious (mortal or venial)? I know for it to be mortal I need full consent and I would have never consented to this on purpose. It just came to my mind all of a sudden.
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My opinion (for what it’s worth): “words” are just that, and most “curse” words in most languages are colloquialisms. I think it’s the intention that matters. You might have a thought (our brains think constantly) that someone is a b***h but if you rebuke that judgment (because it is a judgment and is not charitable), then where’s the sin? Hate is a grave sin. Don’t let dislike for someone or a moment of judgment (common to us ALL) enter your WILL. My confessor taught me a simple prayer that he uses all the time and boy, does it work: “Don’t let the garbage in my head enter my will”.
 
ellzeena said:
snip

Don’t let the garbage in my head enter my will . . .
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. . . or my mouth 😃

Speaking seriously, thoughts that pop into your mind are like birds – you can’t stop them from flying over your head, but you can prevent them from building a nest in your hair. As long as momentary bad thoughts are counteracted by good thoughts, and as long as the bad thoughts do not become actual words and actions, there is no sin.
 
I swear on occasion while driving!! I know it’s wrong and do try not to! Women drivers are just terrible!!! Lol, only kidding!!! 😃
 
No its not a sin,actually speaking a swear word could be, but other than uncouth its a more of a trap, suggest`s the old testament.
 
Using God’s name in vain is the worst. All others are crude or what not. The S-word is the Anglo-Saxon word for poop. St Thomas More, and englishman, used it regularly in his writings. This was before it was considered to be a word of the lower class and later considered inappropriate to use period.
 
If it popped into your head --and you rejected it–that is not called a sin but a good act or even an act of virtue.

As to the matter.

Depends on what one means --but often what we call “bad words” can be of venial “matter” (or even not sinful).

And “abusive language” are often venial sins (it can become grave sin via circumstance or intention).

Your confessor can guide you.
 
My understanding is that the thoughts that pop into our heads are not sinful, how we react to them is the deciding factor on if we have sinned or not. So for example, if I see a very good looking man and something lustful pops into my mind, if I immediately reject that thought and don’t dwell on it then I haven’t done anything wrong. I can’t control my dreams or what crosses my mind, I can only choose to accept or reject those thoughts. You haven’t sinned. It only indicates an imperfection. You can figure out what that imperfection is and work on it.
 
LilyPearls said:
You haven’t sinned. It only indicates an imperfection. You can figure out what that imperfection is and work on it.
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Actually not necessarily an “imperfection” either.

And can be even an “act of virtue” in the rejection 🙂

(see above post too)
 
Bookcat said:
Actually not necessarily an “imperfection” either.

And can be even an “act of virtue” in the rejection 🙂
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Agreed on the “act of virtue” bit. Certainly is. But if I think about the sort of things that repeatedly cross my mind and see a pattern then I know an area of myself that needs work. If I keep thinking that my clothes aren’t nice enough then clearly I have a problem with vanity, even if I don’t actually dwell on those thoughts. Could be just the slightest imperfection, but it’s still there. But then none of us are perfect, not in this life anyways.

Unless it’s satan sending us these evil thoughts. Can that even happen?
 
LilyPearls said:
Agreed on the “act of virtue” bit. Certainly is. But if I think about the sort of things that repeatedly cross my mind and see a pattern then I know an area of myself that needs work. If I keep thinking that my clothes aren’t nice enough then clearly I have a problem with vanity, even if I don’t actually dwell on those thoughts. Could be just the slightest imperfection, but it’s still there. But then none of us are perfect, not in this life anyways.
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I was referring to thoughts that “happen” without sin. With out any slight consent (if there was such --it can thus entail venial sin).

So if some thoughts come out of the blue and “tempt one” but one does not consent but say turns ones attention elsewhere --such is not an imperfection per se.

Now if I say do completely reject them --but I could have rejected them better – well that could perhaps be called an imperfection.
 
Bookcat said:
I was referring to thoughts that “happen” without sin. With out any slight consent (if there was such --it can thus entail venial sin).

So if some thoughts come out of the blue and “tempt one” but one does not consent but say turns ones attention elsewhere --such is not an imperfection per se.

Now if I say do completely reject them --but I could have rejected them better – well that could perhaps be called an imperfection.
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But doesn’t the subject matter of our thoughts, even those thoughts that come out of the blue, happen because of who we are and because of our experiences and inclinations? If one wasn’t even slightly inclined to greed then it would never even occur to said person that he has less money than he would like. Why would you think about diamonds, even if only for a split second, if you didn’t care about them at all?
 
LilyPearls said:
But doesn’t the subject matter of our thoughts, even those thoughts that come out of the blue, happen because of who we are and because of our experiences and inclinations? If one wasn’t even slightly inclined to greed then it would never even occur to said person that he has less money than he would like. Why would you think about diamonds, even if only for a split second, if you didn’t care about them at all?
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Yes ones past sins as well as concupiscence can be involved in such happenings.

But that does not mean such are imperfections. Not as the word gets usually used in Spiritual Theology.

Granted one can say that such is “an imperfection” in a different sense --and that such may get better in this life or be purified-removed after death. But usually when one says “that is not a sin that is an imperfection” it is not meaning such.

As to “concupiscence”

2515 Etymologically, “concupiscence” can refer to any intense form of human desire. Christian theology has given it a particular meaning: the movement of the sensitive appetite contrary to the operation of the human reason. The apostle St. Paul identifies it with the rebellion of the “flesh” against the “spirit.” Concupiscence stems from the disobedience of the first sin. It unsettles man’s moral faculties and, without being in itself an offense, inclines man to commit sins.

1264 Yet certain temporal consequences of sin remain in the baptized, such as suffering, illness, death, and such frailties inherent in life as weaknesses of character, and so on, as well as an inclination to sin that Tradition calls concupiscence, or metaphorically, “the tinder for sin” (fomes peccati); since concupiscence “is left for us to wrestle with, it cannot harm those who do not consent but manfully resist it by the grace of Jesus Christ.” Indeed, “an athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.”

scborromeo.org/ccc/ccc_toc.htm
 
LilyPearls said:
But doesn’t the subject matter of our thoughts, even those thoughts that come out of the blue, happen because of who we are and because of our experiences and inclinations? If one wasn’t even slightly inclined to greed then it would never even occur to said person that he has less money than he would like. Why would you think about diamonds, even if only for a split second, if you didn’t care about them at all?
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The very knowledge of the law creates sin in us. Like St. Paul says in Rom 7, he didn’t even know what coveting was, until the law said “do not covet,” and then he got every type of covetous desire. So to the mind in the flesh, being informed of the law is enough to produce sinful desires.

Rom 7:7-11
What then can we say? That the law is sin? Of course not! Yet I did not know sin except through the law, and I did not know what it is to covet except that the law said, “You shall not covet.” But sin, finding an opportunity in the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetousness.

Apart from the law sin is dead. I once lived outside the law, but when the commandment came, sin became alive; then I died, and the commandment that was for life turned out to be death for me. For sin, seizing an opportunity in the commandment, deceived me and through it put me to death.

Alan
 
AlanFromWichita said:
The very knowledge of the law creates sin in us. Like St. Paul says in Rom 7, he didn’t even know what coveting was, until the law said “do not covet,” and then he got every type of covetous desire. So to the mind in the flesh, being informed of the law is enough to produce sinful desires.

Rom 7:7-11
What then can we say? That the law is sin? Of course not! Yet I did not know sin except through the law, and I did not know what it is to covet except that the law said, “You shall not covet.” But sin, finding an opportunity in the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetousness.

Apart from the law sin is dead. I once lived outside the law, but when the commandment came, sin became alive; then I died, and the commandment that was for life turned out to be death for me. For sin, seizing an opportunity in the commandment, deceived me and through it put me to death.

Alan
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Good point Alan.
Code: 
    We must reject raising our voices in curses, especially using  God's name in vain.  This is a terrible habit  that  can become a bad habit.

    This is especially true for those of  us who are making the effort to live Godly lives.  I remember reading  St. Theresa of  Avila writing about living your life as a form of  prayer.  If  we can do so then we will become sanctified.    That is what life is supposed to be living a Godly life in imitation of  Christ and His Saints.

   One has to ask Christ to help us overcome our sinful selves.
Many Blessings,
BP
 
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