don't take His name in vain...

Exodus 20: 7 “You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

all of my life I have been taught that taking the Lord's name in vain meant using it as a curse word.. or cussing with it... but as I thought about what to write on this.. and I researched a little.. I heard another point of view...

of course it is still wrong to use the name of the Lord as a cuss word no matter what... and I doubt God will allow that from someone for very long..

this new view I am seeing though.. .is this... like when we marry someone.. it is a covenant.. and we take their name... when we take their name.. we are a representation of that name.. so if we look bad... it makes them look bad too... well.. what if.. God feels this same way... and us being in covenant with Him.. we carry His name.. so when we act wrong.. we misrepresent Him... or when we don't show Him in our walk.. show Him in who we are... and if we aren't walking right.. we misrepresent His name.. and make Him look bad...

I thought that was surely the truth.. even if it is not the way that it is meant.. if it is meant not to curse... I do my best not to curse anyway.. but I think our walk is such an outward show of what and who is important to us...

it says God will not hold those guiltless who take His name in vain... let's all do our best to be a right representation of God in every way... speech and action both...