profanity by definition is irreverent or abusive speech. i know that encompasses more than just a few selected words that “society” has deemed as “cuss words” or “vulgarities.” and i believe that as christians – those who have been made new by the power of the holy spirit moving within us, that our speech will definitely change as we as are drawn upward – closer in intimacy with God. the profane expressions of the world can’t even begin to describe the attributes of the holy God. they are irreverent expressions to begin with, and any attempt to use an irreverent expression to describe a holy God won’t fly.
those around the throne are only able to repeatedly use words of reverence – words like “holy,” and “worthy” because mere words alone are unable to begin to express the majesty, splendor and awesomeness of the soverign Lord. i believe that when we begin to experience times of deep intimacy with the Lord, our speech will change to reflect that. in ephesians 4 paul addresses speech in vs. 29. profane speech or talk that is not edifying should not be part of our lives. and i think alot of times we focus on the “swears” and forget that gossip or negativity is just as much a part of speech that is not edifying and thus, should not be part of our lives. (see also col. 3.8-10 and rom. 12.1-2)
in a somewhat related thought – check this out. this guy did some experiments with water. he spoke certain words over water in a glas vial and then froze the water. when he spoke words like “hate” “death” “you make me sick” the water froze in patterns that reflected those words. the patterns were distorted and ugly. conversely, when he spoke words like “life” and “love” the patterns were beautiful. Another guy did a similar experiment with plants and speech. I know it sounds far out in left field, but i think the point of it all is that our words – our speech – can be a catalyst for life or death. the power of life and death is in the tongue (prov 18:21).