A4P Guest: “I’m 15-year old girl. My dad thinks that “What the fudge” is a bad expression to use. He read it on one of the text messages I exchanged with my friends and saw WTF! and asked me what that abbreviation stands for. I told him that it stands for “What the fudge!” but he still said that I shouldn’t use it. Don’t you think that my dad is being too legalist?”
A4P: No, I don’t think you dad is too legalist because using phrases such as this one, I believe, is not only bad, but inappropriate, especially for those who profess to follow Christ.
Ask yourself this question: “What impression do I leave in the hearts and minds of those who hear me use this expression?”
You may not have any ill or sinful intent when using this expression, but if you say it to the one who may interpret or hear it in a wrong way; you might be the reason for him/her to stumble. You should always be considerate of others’ conscious. This is one of those vitally important spiritual principles we Christians ought to live by; i.e. to never be a reason for a brother/sister in Christ to stumble by what we do or say (Romans 14).
You are also called to be salt and light to this world by your words and deeds (Matthew 5:13-16).
Remember, we can’t “sanctify” the world’s language and make it “a born-again Christian” language. We simply can’t. What belongs to the world belongs to the world; and what belongs to Christ belongs to Christ. The Word of God says, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.” (Mark 12:17) This includes phrases and expressions.
But remember, what comes out of your mouth comes directly from your heart (Luke 6:45). It is like downloading an app and running it on your phone. The app is the information you frequently feed your eyes and ears and running the app on your phone is your lifestyle that comes forth from what you’ve been feeding your ears and eyes.
The best way to “cleanse” the words/expressions that come out of your mouth so that they will be acceptable and pleasing to God and others is by taking good care of your heart – for everything you do and say flows from it (Proverbs 4:23).
And please say this to your dad for me: “Thank you for watching out for your daughter enough to check her conversations with her friends. Thank you!” ///
P. S. I would like to say “Thank you” to the beautiful girl who asked me this question and her dad who gave me permission to share this with you all.