I have been doing research on Jewish history and faith, and found an article about not putting the O in G-d's name. Jews want to respect the Father by not saying and writing His name, but isn't this just how we refer to Him and not His actual name? How we should write about Him without being disrespectful?
The Bible does not assign God a specific name. God's name has never been disclosed, and furthermore Scripture says we do not know His name, because only God knows His own name:
Rev. 19:11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war.
Rev. 19:12 His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself.
The closest we get in Scripture to receiving a name for God is given during the Lord’s exchange with Moses:
Ex. 3:13 Then Moses said to God, “Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ Now they may say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?”
Ex. 3:14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”
The phrase “I AM” is not a name either, and so we do not know God’s name, and therefore it is literally impossible to profane the name of God by mispronouncing it or writing it.
Furthermore, the English word “god” is not the name of God. God is simply the generic English word for deity. Likewise, Spanish speakers use the word Dios, Germans say Gott, French say Dieu, Chinese say Shen, etc. etc. None of these words are God’s name, and therefore any concerns about pronouncing or writing these words is a distraction from more serious, meaningful issues of growing in our faith and pleasing Christ.
Certainly it is a Jewish tradition to remove vowels from any reference to His name (e.g., "G-d"). But as Christians, we need not abide by this unless our spirit leads us otherwise.
Finally, when we "take the Lord's name in vain", it is not a matter of word choice but of heart attitude. If we scrupulously avoid printing some arbitrary vowel (G-d) yet disobey scripture, then we are no more “holy” except in our own mind, which is hypocrisy. As Jesus said to the hypocritical Pharisees:
Matt. 23:23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.
Matt. 23:24 “You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!
Therefore, we encourage you to avoid “straining gnats” by engaging in disputes about words and to cease worrying about meaningless things like avoiding writing the word “God.” Instead, seek to serve Christ undistracted by such things, focused on your obedience to His word and your dedication to witnessing to the truth of the Gospel.
