10 Steps to Avoid “Crude Joking”

Yesterday I posted about problems with immoral talk. Today I follow up ways to avoid it.

Regrettably, too many believers fall into verbal sin, even though the Bible is quite clear about our responsibility to be careful about how we speak:

“Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” (Eph. 4:29)

“Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.” (Eph. 5:4)

If you face a struggle with crude joking, maybe these steps will help you overcome this sin:

1. Admit the problem. I write this post not because I’ve reached perfection in this area, but because I know the struggle. You and I will never really fight the problem if we don’t admit it first. Get a prayer partner who will pray with you about your speech.
2. Recognize the consequences. If our words are immoral at any time, why should people listen to us when we talk about the transforming power of the gospel? You and I deny the gospel when we talk like the world does.
3. Decide to be like Jesus. He spoke words of grace, and He spoke them graciously: “And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth” (Luke 4:22). We need to be like Him.
4. Don’t put junk in your head. It’s easier to joke about sinful stuff when we’ve put the stuff in our head in the first place. When it’s on your mind, it’s not far from your lips.
5. Focus on building up others. That’s what Paul told us to do. If we strive only to build up others—to edify them with our words—we’ll push away from sinful talk.
6. Tell somebody something good about God every day. When you make this commitment, you watch for open doors to praise the Lord each day. Crude jokes don’t fit well in the mind that verbally honors God daily.
7. Do more evangelism. That’s the message of good news. It’s about life. It’s about what really matters. It’s FAR more important–it’s eternally more important, in fact–than any temporary fun you might get out of crude joking. 
8. Give somebody permission to call you out whenever he hears crudeness from you. It needs to be someone who’s around you enough to recognize your patterns and who loves you enough to confront you strongly when you mess up.
9. If necessary, limit time with people you allow to influence you wrongly. Many of us have acquaintances with whom it’s too easy to “let our guard down.” If you don’t have the spiritual strength to be godly around these persons, you may need to see them less often.
10. Quickly confess any failures. One problem with crude joking is that it’s contagious. One joke leads to another, and then to another. If you fall, halt this process by quickly turning to God in confession.

What steps would you add to this list?