Read

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.”

Think

Have you ever had someone consistently get your name wrong? Not just once, but repeatedly? They shorten it without asking, pronounce it lazily, or substitute something easier for them. At first, you shrug it off. But over time, it begins to feel personal. It communicates something quietly but clearly: you are not worth the effort.

Names matter because they carry meaning. They represent identity, relationship, and recognition. When someone treats your name carelessly, it feels like they are treating you carelessly.

That reality helps us understand why the third commandment exists.

We live in a culture where almost nothing feels sacred anymore. Words that once carried weight are now tossed around casually. God’s name shows up in jokes, sarcasm, frustration, memes, and emotional reactions. It has become verbal background noise. For many people, it is no longer worship language. It is filler.

But Scripture has never treated God’s name casually.

In Exodus 20:7, God says his name is not to be misused. The Hebrew word translated “in vain” is shav, which means empty, hollow, meaningless, or without substance. This commandment is not only about avoiding profanity. It is about refusing to empty God’s name of its weight.

God’s name is not a sound. It is a revelation.

Throughout the Bible, names communicate essence. When God reveals his name to Moses, he does not offer a title. He reveals his nature. “I AM” speaks of eternal existence, independence, power, and faithfulness. His name reflects who he is, not just what we call him. To treat that name lightly is to treat his character lightly.

Think of it like forging a signature. A signature carries authority because it represents a real person. When someone signs your name without permission, they are borrowing your identity to authorize something you never approved. In a similar way, using God’s name casually or carelessly borrows divine weight for human speech. It drags something holy into something hollow.

This is why the commandment includes a warning. God says he will not hold guiltless those who misuse his name. That does not mean God is waiting to punish people for slipping up verbally. It means he takes his holiness seriously. He guards his name because his name represents him.

We often misunderstand reverence as stiffness or fear. But reverence is not about tiptoeing around God. It is about recognizing his worth. You handle valuable things differently. You do not toss a wedding ring into a junk drawer. You do not use a national flag as a cleaning rag. Not because those things are fragile, but because they symbolize something greater.

Reverence is recognition.

The misuse of God’s name does not stop with speech. We can misuse it through carelessness in prayer, calling on him without attention. We misuse it when we attach his name to opinions he never endorsed. We misuse it when we say, “God told me,” when what we really mean is, “This feels right to me.” We empty his name of meaning when we use it to legitimize ourselves instead of surrendering to his authority.

And when reverence disappears, intimacy thins out. A casual God quickly becomes a controllable God. A God without weight becomes a God without authority. We slowly stop being shaped by who he is and start reshaping him into something easier to manage.

Yet the invitation of this commandment is not condemnation. It is restoration. God is calling his people back to weight, back to awe, back to the recognition that his name is not common because he is not common.

Saying his name should slow us down. It should reorient us. It should remind us who we are speaking to and who we belong to.

It does matter. Not because God is fragile, but because he is holy.

Apply

Today, practice awareness. Listen for how God’s name is used around you and within you. Notice how easily it surfaces in frustration, humor, or habit. Instead of correcting others, let the exercise begin with your own heart. Tonight, take a quiet moment to pray, using God’s name slowly and intentionally. Do not rush to requests. Sit with who he is. Let reverence reshape the way you speak and listen.

Pray

God, your name is holy and full of meaning. Forgive me for the times I have treated it casually or spoken without awareness. Teach me to honor you with my words and my attention. Restore reverence in my heart so my relationship with you grows deeper and truer. In Jesus’ name. Amen.