“William Didn’t Know,” Friend, Nov. 1997, 40

William Didn’t Know

Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain (Ex. 20:7).

School had recently started, and Brian was excited. His family had just moved to a new town, and he was anxious to make new friends. It wasn’t long before he discovered that William, a boy in his class, lived just around the corner from his home. Soon Brian and William started walking home together.

Brian liked William a lot. But there was something about William that bothered him. Sometimes William swore. When his friend took the Lord’s name in vain, Brian felt very uncomfortable. He knew that this was wrong, and he didn’t like to hear William talk that way. Brian remembered the covenant he had made at baptism to always keep Heavenly Father’s commandments and to stand as a witness for Him. I’m going to ask William to quit swearing, he decided.

The next day, on the way home from school, William took Heavenly Father’s name in vain again. Brian stopped walking and said, “William, do you know that you just swore?”

“I did?”

“Yes, you took Heavenly Father’s name in vain. It’s wrong to do that. Heavenly Father doesn’t like it, and it hurts Him to hear anyone use His name like that.”

William was surprised and didn’t say anything for a minute. Then he quietly said, “I never knew that. No one ever told me that before. I won’t say it anymore if you don’t want me to.”

“OK! Thanks, William. You’re a good friend!” Brian told him. Now Brian felt good inside and couldn’t wait to get home to tell his mom what had happened.