My insides cringed when he said it, but I didn’t let my face betray my emotions. Sucking in a short, sharp breath, I realized that I would never grow accustomed to hearing Jesus’ name used while swearing. My head bowed slightly as my heart prayed, “Jesus is Lord.”
We know that God’s name is holy. The commandments given to Moses reveal that. If that wasn’t enough, Jesus Himself tells us that God’s name is holy in today’s Gospel (see Matthew 6:9). In fact, it’s the first thing we state in the prayer He taught us, second only to professing sheer belief in God’s existence and presence.
Do we treat His name with the required reverence?
After becoming deeply convicted about the sacredness of God’s name, I adopted the practice of bowing my head when I hear someone take the Lord’s name in vain. Sometimes I witness God’s name used to express frustration or to cut down another person. Sometimes I hear it in TV shows or in music. Sometimes the irreverence is more subtle, and His name is used flippantly.
Knowing how this hurts Jesus’ heart, bowing my head in an act of reparation is a small and simple way I can console Him.
This week, let’s love the Lord intimately by honoring His name more profoundly. Be intentional about bowing your head and saying a short prayer of adoration if you hear God’s name taken in vain. At Mass, try to bow your head when you hear the name of Jesus as an act of love and reparation for all the times His name is abused.
Together, we can be an army of women who “glorify the Lord” (Psalm 34:4) by declaring, “hallowed be thy name” (Matthew 6:9).
Do we treat His name with the required reverence? // @to_the_heights Click To TweetBowing of the head at Jesus’ name was established by Pope Gregory X in this council in the 13th century.
Olivia Spears lives in Kentucky where the sweet tea and bourbon flow like milk and honey. She is the Blog Manager for Blessed is She and works from home as an editor and social media manager. She likes to binge novels and Netflix while raising her children and laughing with her husband. She is a contributing author to our children’s devotional prayer book called Rise Up. You can find out more about her here.
Thank you for this reminder, Olivia. Our society is much too careless with Our Lord’s holy Name. People are afraid of offending everyone but Christians. Perhaps we should consider wearing our offense on our faces and kindly ask that they refrain from offending us and Our Lord by taking His Name in vain. If we say nothing, people will think nothing of it; if we say something in charity, they may begin to recognize their sin. This is a spiritual work of charity. God bless!
Thank you, Olivia! My coworkers say our Lord’s name in vain quite frequently around me. Some apologize, and some have no idea. I used to pray “Lord forgive them for they do not know what they say”, but I love this idea of incorporating the honorable bow when I hear his name now.
I was in the mode where if people used the Lord’s name in vain I would give them that look and say, “eh eh, do not use the Lords name in that way”! I deal with a lot of men, truck drivers, who carelessly use the Lords name in an unholy way but I don’t want to come off as all knowing and scolding. Thank you for giving me a different way to give reverence to the Lord when his name is used in an unloving way.
beautiful!
Love this, what an excellent reminder for us to respond and what a wonderful example of how ❤️💛💙