Paul Tripp, in this video, offers an interesting, and important, perspective about a problem that has recently effected our youth group and our home: the use of words, or the appropriate use of words.

What makes some words acceptable and others “bad”?

Tripp offers three distinctions:

1. Some words are condemning and judgmental.  The use of these words, intentionally or unthinkingly, is always wrong.

2.  Some words are sexually graphic or explicit. These words can bring to mind things that should not be brought into a given situation. Further, the use of these words tend toward the devaluation and distortion of God’s gift of sex.

3. Some words are simply culturally impolite.

Most helpful, I think, is Tripp’s positive assertion about the use of language.  Tripp states that the purpose of words are…

“To give grace to the hearer.”

Two final notes:

1. This clip is an exerpt of the topic Tripp deals with at great length in his book War of Words.

2. My thanks to my friend Seaton Garrett for introducing this video to me.  Check out Seaton’s comments about it on his blog: Are We There Yet?