Have you ever been one to care much about the proper use of language. I quite regularly use slang, and I often use words that have a cultural meaning but if I am quite honest with myself, I don't know the real meaning of some of those words.
Take for instance, "vanity", my sister had a nice vanity in her room as a young girl. The vanity had a mirror so that she could double check her appearance.
Take for instance, "vanity", my sister had a nice vanity in her room as a young girl. The vanity had a mirror so that she could double check her appearance.
Webster redirects me to the word "vain" in order to define vanity. "Vain" means, "unsatisfying; fruitless, unavailing, ineffectual;empty, worthless; conceited; showy". 
With all those possibilities, how can I possibly understand what it means to take the Lord's name in vain? 
The Hebrew word for "vain" in Exodus 20:7 is "shav" which means ruin; guile; idolatry. It seems to me that none of the definitions of "shav" are to be well translated by our modern day understanding of "vain". We teach our children NOT to say "Oh my God!" why? What act of ruin, guile, or idolatry does that phrase commit? Wouldn't it be better to teach our children not to pretend to pray in Jesus name when they are petitioning our Lord for help with some self centered worldly concern? Isn't that a true example of, "taking the Lord's name in vain"?Perhaps we Americans should take a lesson in language from our British neighbors, and not be so quick to allow words to become meaningless, or to use meaningless words. Maybe Satan has more subtle plans for hiding God's truth than we yet know.
Don't be willing to take, even the most obscure truth, at it's culturally accepted "face value".
Be willing to test everything and to diligently seek the original context and historical background of Scripture so that God's steadfast truth may not be hidden from you.
David
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I looked some synonyms to vanity and came up with several. One I liked the best was pridefulness.
Check this out:
Humility. God knows that men are prone toward pride, especially when they are in positions of spiritual privilege. Therefore He often uses opposition and suffering to teach them humility.
Paul was perhaps the most spiritually privileged man who ever lived, and the Lord’s grace in his life was abundant. On at least four occasions Jesus Himself appeared to him to instruct or encourage him in times of deep need (Acts 9:4–6; 18:9–10; 22:17–21; 23:11; 2 Cor. 12:1–4). He received such extensive divine revelation that his writings amount to nearly half of the New Testament books.
Because of the extraordinary nature of those revelations, God gave Paul a “thorn in the flesh” to keep him from exalting himself (2 Cor. 12:7). That phrase might elicit a picture of cutting roses and having a little thorn stick your finger. But as we noted in the previous chapter, the Greek word translated “thorn” literally means a stake—a sharpened wooden shaft used to impale or torture someone. Further, the phrase “in the flesh” can also be rendered “for the flesh,” which I believe is the better rendering here. Metaphorically speaking, God gave Paul a stake for his sinful flesh to impale and kill it so as to prevent boasting and pride.
MacArthur, J., F., Jr. (1997, c1991). Our sufficiency in Christ (Electronic ed.) (247). Dallas, TX: Word Publishing.
Needless to say, pride and vanity are no small sins. No wonder the Bible has so much to say about it. And yet in our culture we trivialize these words way too much. After all, what is wrong with owning a "vanity"? Nothing as long as it is NOT used for the purpose of vanity.
Thank you for the reminder. We need to be on guard against vanity all the time less we be given a thorn in the flesh like Paul.
How about praying for healing or praying for a job? Shouldn't we really be praying that we would learn the lesson that He wants us to learn by allowing trials into our lives? YES. The Lord knows we have need of "these things". We need not even ask for healing, jobs, food, etc. If you find yourself in the hospital, pray that you would be an evangelist to the doctors and nurses. Pray that you would learn to be a better servant of His while he has set you aside for awhile.
I have told people that that is my hearts desire. Don't pray for healing, or for the doctors hands, or for medical wisdom for them. Pray for their souls!
It has taken me 55+ years to learn this so you with children are on your own. How do you start to teach children these concepts? I'll pray for you.
redi,
Thank you for the time and energy you put into your comment. I want to pull a bite out of MacArthur's quote that supports my thoughts about "words".
"God gave Paul a “thorn in the flesh” to keep him from exalting himself (2 Cor. 12:7). That phrase might elicit a picture of cutting roses and having a little thorn stick your finger. But as we noted in the previous chapter, the Greek word translated “thorn” literally means a stake—a sharpened wooden shaft used to impale or torture someone."(John MacArthur)
A thorn is such a trivial discomfort. A stake on the other hand is a true danger to the flesh.
Words can indeed hurt us.
David
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