"For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks" (Matthew 12:34).

Why is it that the human heart so easily utters contempt for the holy? Why is it that even the atheist, who professes not to believe in God, continually insists that "God damn it"? Why is it that people's reflex reactions to surprising situations are to vocalize their lack of submission to the Divine by saying "Oh my God!"; "For Christ's sake!"; or "Jesus Christ"?

When you bring this to a person's attention, they may rebuff you by saying, "It's just an expression." In many cases, people who blaspheme the name of God and trivialize eternal realities by their profanity are oblivious to what they are saying.

Some of the most important thoughts a human being could ever think upon are routinely buried in the mud of common profanity.

I was speaking with a man who insisted that neither God nor Satan existed. Yet in the midst of his conversation he was habitually inserting a profane expression. I stopped him midstream and asked him to repeat this recurring statement. He himself was stunned by the contradictory subconscious expression that was coming out of his mouth: "Surer than the devil."

Recently a man was telling me that he is happily attending a church where you can believe anything you want. "It's as healthy as hell," he proudly added.

The language of profanity is eye-opening. Why is it that people do not invoke the name of celebrities or other gods as expletives? You never hear a person curse saying: "Oh Buddha!" or "For Mohammed's sake."

We veil our lack of submission to God with our whitewashed profanity, our substitute swear words: "Oh heck!"; "Darn!"; "Drat!"; "Gee"; or "Gee whiz" (substitute for 'Jesus') "Golly"; or "Gosh." Rather than condemn ourselves for these habitual verbal expressions, let them alert you to the fact that in the present moment you are drifting from submission to the grace of God. You are reacting with the old programming of your sin nature rather than living in the Spirit.

Profanity is a symptom of spiritual heart disease. By these habits we attest to the presence of our own fear, anxiety, and arrogance. Jesus taught that the words of our heart, vocalized or not, are indicators of the state of our soul. They reveal whether or not we are submitting to God's grace in a given moment. "The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks." (Luke 6:45 NIV). Jesus' teaching is not given that we might beat ourselves up with feelings of guilt and condemnation but that we might discern the differences between the old nature, with its bias to evil, and the new nature, which lives to fulfill righteousness by submitting to God's grace.

Rather than insulting God's grace with the sins of the tongue (which include gossip, maligning, slander, backbiting, libel and uncleanness as well as blasphemy) let us become aware of our inner impulses. Let us bring these expressions out of the mud of the profane and restore them to their true value. May our knee-jerk verbalizations be those of true submission and worship: "Oh my God, I honor you!"; "Oh my Lord, I worship you!"; "Jesus, you are the Son of God and worthy of my worship and joyful service." "I'm going to live, and work, and love today, for Christ's sake."