It may take some work to find new ways to say something you’ve relied on clichés to say for you.

Two exercises I have used for this is to pick a vocabulary list and only use words on that list to compose a thought. It’s amazing how creative you can get when forced into a narrowly defined list of words. The second exercise is to simply remove a letter from the alphabet and provide ground rules that say the letter â??g’ (or any other letter you choose) can not be used in the thought you are working through. If a word you want to use has â??g’ in it you will need to find an alternative word.

The primary use for colloquialisms is in fiction writing where period dialect dictates that an overused phrase that was commonly used during the time period of the story should be used. In these cases common phrases of the era may simply help identify the setting and the mannerisms of the character.

In Christian writing common colloquialisms are often referred to as â??Christianese’. These phrases have meaning for those who know Christ, but often sound like some sort or code to those who are not Christians. It is in the best interest of Christian writers to find alternative ways to convey truths that have been reduced to â??Christianese’.

However you look at colloquialisms it is safe to say that these common phrases have their roots in something most often forgotten. For instance the term, “the whole nine yards” is a term that is often used to describe an all encompassing amount. The original phrase came about during Word War II to describe the effect of machine guns mounted on air craft. If all the ammunition was used in one run it covered 27 feet or “the whole nine yards”. While the original meaning is no longer connected with the term, its original intent was maximum coverage and that’s what the colloquialism represents today.

The primary word of caution is to minimize the use of common terms, phrases or slang whenever possible. If the slang is present day it will likely be passé before your piece can be published and will sound dated. If the slang is from the past, but is overdone it may sound like a visit to â??Cliché Town” according to fellow author David Ian.

When you proof your manuscript look for phrases that seem familiar, chances are very strong that the line has been overused and will minimize the impact you desire for your piece. If possible find a new way to convey an old truth. You, your publisher and your reader will be glad you did.

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Not only do you confuse readers because there is a possibility that they will not be sure what message really meant, the danger of having clichés in you color printing ad copy lets your target readers misinterpret and create meanings from your ad that is totally out of context. Even if you do not intend to do it, you are giving your target audience the opportunity to come up with their own connotation which might actually lead them to reject what you have to offer.

Clichés are very common to see in the headlines of color printing ads. It is like most business owners and a few marketers are thinking that clichés are great attention getters. I mean, it is as if they believe that their target readers would actually be interested in the humor or even the twisted meanings that a cliché offers.

But after reading your headline, what do you think would be the reaction of your target readers? Yup. They are probably thinking what the heck you are talking about. And if I am right, they might even be questioning the relevance of your cliché headline to what you can do actually.

This is the number one rule in copywriting: do not use clichés in your ad copy, especially in your headlines and sub-headlines.

This rule has been in many articles and how-to columns before, online and even offline. But the ubiquity of it reflects that not so many have heeded the call for its obliteration.

There is only one way for you to actually get your target readers’ attention. Provide them with provocative and appealing headlines and sub-headlines that make them want to think of what you can do to satisfy their needs.

Let us face it. If you let your audience trip from your headline and sub-headline, you’re letting an opportunity to slip away. Getting them hooked and wanting to read your ad copy is the main objective of every headline and sub-headline. You got to provide a copy that would make them want to think about themselves and what you can do for them.

And not just any attention-getting headlines, mind you. You need ‘thought-provoking’ headlines that engage your readers. Do not miss out on the opportunity to make your message stick. Make them want to take the time out to read more and get more details of your business.

Clichés just do not make it as far as ‘thought-provoking’ is concerned. You’re just losing your position every time you use it in your ad copy.

Know how to break free from using cliches in your ad copy with the help of a professional and well-experienced commercial color printing company.

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1.) God loves everyone unconditionally.

2.) God loves everyone the same.

3.) There isnâ??t anything you can do to earn or deserve Jesusâ?? love.

4.) Jesusâ?? love for us is not based on our performance.

5.) There is nothing you can do that would make Jesus stop loving you.

6.) There is nothing you can do to make Jesus love you more or less than He does right now.

Weâ??ve all heard these, but are these true according to Scripture? Consider the following words of Christ, spoken to His very own disciples:

Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Fatherâ??s commandments and abide in His love (John 15:9-10, emphasis added).

Notice the conditional word if in the declaration, â??If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love.â? Jesusâ?? disciples are responsible to abide in His love, just as He said, and they do that by keeping His commandments. Only those who keep Jesusâ?? commandments abide in His love. If we donâ??t keep His commandments, we donâ??t abide in His love. That means Jesusâ?? love for us is conditional, and there is no getting around that fact. (Other scriptures besides this one, which we will consider shortly, make the same point.) So the first cliché under considerationâ??that God loves everyone unconditionallyâ??is false according to Christ. Incidentally, the Greek word translated love in these two verses of Johnâ??s Gospel is agape, which is often defined as â??unconditional love,â? a definition that is obviously not correct according to these verses.

But doesnâ??t Scripture declare that God loves those who donâ??t keep His commandments? What about John 3:16: â??For God so loved the worldâ?¦â?? That must mean that God also loves sinners, which must mean that His love for them is not conditioned upon their obedience. How then are we to reconcile these two apparent contradictory facts of Godâ??s love being conditional and also unconditional?

It seems to me that the only way to reconcile them is to simply acknowledge what we all know to be true from experienceâ??that not all love is the same. Some love is conditional, while other love is not conditional. Non-conditional love is known as mercy, and could be called â??merciful loveâ? or â??merciful favor.â? (When someone loves you, he bestows his favor on you, and you experience some benefit because of that favor.) In this article, I will refer to unconditional love as merciful love. It is a love that says, â??I love you in spite of.â? It loves undeserving people. It is the kind of love God has for those who are not submitted to Him, the unregenerate. His merciful love for them is temporary, however, lasting only until they die. God forestalls His judgment upon them all of their lives as He gives them years to repent. Jesus gave His life for them, providing a way for them to be forgiven. To that degree and in that way, it can be said that God loves them.

But there is also such a thing as conditional love. It is known as approval, and it could be called â??approving favorâ? or â??approving loveâ? as I will refer to it in this article. It is a love that is earned or merited. It is a love that says, â??I love you because you deserve my favor.”

God of course never loves those who are not submitted to Him with an approving love. Or it could be said this way: God never has a love for them like a father has for his child. Rather, Scripture declares, â??Just as a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him” (Ps. 103:13, emphasis added). God has fatherly compassion only on those who fear Him (which implies that they therefore obey Him). God does not have the same compassion on those who don’t fear Him. His love for sinners is more akin to the mercy a judge has on a convicted killer who receives a life sentence rather than the death penalty.

In light of these truths, clearly God does not love everyone the same, which means that cliché #2 is also not true.

Unfortunately, many of us mistakenly think that if love is conditional it is not love at all. Or we even belittle such a love, saying it is purely selfish, and contrary to Godâ??s love.

The truth is, however, that God does indeed possess conditional love, as we have just read from the lips of Jesus in John 15:9-10: â??If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love.â? Thus approving love should not be sneered at. Approving love is the primary love that God has for His true children.

Stop and ask yourself this question: â??Which kind of love would I rather people have for meâ??merciful love or approving love?â? Iâ??m sure you would prefer that people love you â??because ofâ? not â??in spite of.â?

For example, would you rather hear your spouse say, â??I have absolutely no reason to love you, and there is nothing about you that motivates me to show you my favorâ? or, â??I love you for so many reasons, because there is so much about you that I admireâ?? We all, of course, would prefer that our spouses love us with an approving love, and that is the primary kind of love that draws couples together and keeps them together. When there is nothing that a person admires in his or her spouse, when all approving love has ceased to exist, few marriages last. If they do endure, the credit goes to merciful love, which stems from the godly character of the giver of that love.

All this being so, we see that approving, or conditional love, is not an inferior love at all. While merciful love is the most praiseworthy love to give, approving love is the most praiseworthy love to gain. We should desire Godâ??s approving love much more than His merciful love. Moreover, the fact that approving love is the only kind of love that the Father has ever had for Jesus elevates it to its rightful place of respect. God the Father has never possessed even a drop of merciful love for Jesus, because there was never anything unlovely in Christ. Jesus testified:

For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again (John 10:17, emphasis added).

Notice the phrase â??for this reasonâ? and the word â??because.â? Both indicate that there is a condition. The Father loved Jesus because of His obedience to suffer death. So there must be nothing wrong and everything right about approving love. Jesus earned and deserved His Fatherâ??s favor. (Incidentally, the Greek word translated love in this verse is also agape, proving again that agape should not be defined as â??unconditional love.â?)

Looking again at John 15:9-10, we note that Jesus said that he abided in His Fatherâ??s love by keeping His Fatherâ??s commandments:

Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Fatherâ??s commandments and abide in His love (John 15:9-10, emphasis added).

So there is another scripture that reveals the Fatherâ??s approving love of Jesus. Moreover, as I have already pointed out, this same scripture indicates that we are to follow Jesusâ?? example and abide in His love by keeping His commandments. Jesus was clearly speaking of approving love in this passage, telling us that we can and should earn His love, and that we may take ourselves out of His love through disobedience to His commandments. We abide in His love only if we keep His commandments. Again, this is completely contrary to what we so often hear, but we just read it straight from the lips of Jesus. And this exposes the fallacies of clichés number 3, 4, 5 and 6. According to Jesus, we (#3) can earn or deserve His love, (#4) His love is based on our performance, (#5) there is something we could do to make Jesus stop loving us, and (#6) there is something we can do to make Jesus love us more or less.

Of course, God still reserves plenty of merciful love for His children. When we sin, He mercifully delays His discipline. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to mercifully forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). Yet the fact remains that Jesus only affirmed Godâ??s approving love for those who keep His commandments. Here are two other scriptures besides what we read in John 15:9-10 which make that same point:

For the Father Himself loves you [and why does He love you?], because you have loved Me and have believed that I came forth from the Father (John 16:27, emphasis added).

He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me [that is, he who meets that condition] will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him….If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and [because of that] My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him (John 14:21, 23, emphasis added).

Note that in the second quotation, Jesus was not making a promise to uncommitted believers that if they started keeping His word, He would draw closer to them in a special way. No, Jesus was promising that if anyone would start loving Him and keeping His word, thenâ??once those conditions were metâ??His Father would love that person, and both He and His Father would come to live in that person, a clear reference to being born again. Everyone who is born again has both the Father and Son living in him by the indwelling Holy Spirit (see Rom. 8:9). So we see, as Scripture so often affirms, that those who are truly born again are those who have repented and have begun to obey Jesus, and they are the only ones who thus gain the approving love of the Father. God favors such people in a special wayâ??He comes to live in them. He doesnâ??t do that for those whom He favors with only a merciful love.

The Conclusion

Letâ??s revisit those six clichés again:

1.) God loves everyone unconditionally. Not true. Godâ??s approving love is certainly conditional. And even His merciful love is conditioned upon a person being physically alive. After death, Godâ??s merciful love ends, so it must be conditional, being temporary.

2.) God loves everyone the same. Not true. God doesnâ??t love anyone the same, because all, sinners and saints alike, He disapproves or approves to varying degrees. And certainly it is true that Godâ??s love is not the same for His children and the devilâ??s children. God loves His children much more than those who are not born again. He primarily loves them with an approving love because they have repented and are striving to obey His commandments. As they grow in holiness, He has less and less reason to love them with a merciful love, and more and more reason to love them with an approving love, which is exactly what they desire.

3.) There isnâ??t anything you can do to earn or deserve Jesusâ?? love. Not true. Anyone can and everyone should earn Jesusâ?? approving love by their repentance and obedience. It is true, however, that no one can earn His merciful love, as it is unconditional.

4.) Jesusâ?? love for us is not based on our performance. Not true. Godâ??s merciful love is not based upon our performance, but Godâ??s approving love certainly is.

5.) There is nothing you could do that would make Jesus stop loving you. Not true. A Christian could forfeit Jesusâ?? approving love by returning to the practice of sin to live like an unbeliever, putting himself in a position to experience only Jesusâ?? merciful love. And, similarly, the non-believer could die, and that would end Jesusâ?? merciful love for him, the only love Jesus ever had for him.

6.) There is nothing you could do to make Jesus love you more or less than He does right now. Not true. There is something believers can do that can make Jesus approvingly love them more: they can be more obedient. And there is something they can do to make Jesus approvingly love them less: become disobedient. For those who are not children of God, there is something that they can do that would make God love them much more: repent. Then they would gain Godâ??s approving love for the first time. And there is something they can do that would make God love them less: die. Again, they would then forfeit the only love Jesus ever had for them, His merciful love.

I hope you can see that these common clichés are not only wrong, but are also very damaging to the cause of Christ, because unbelievers who hear them are deceived into thinking that they donâ??t need to repent, and professing believers are deceived into thinking that holiness is not very important, whereas Jesus warned that only those who do His Fatherâ??s will shall enter the kingdom of heaven (see Matt. 7:21).

“Christian Clichés that Contradict Christ”, an article on the conditional love of God ©2007 David Servant and ShepherdServe.org. You are welcome to repost this article as long as the article is unaltered and kept in its entirety (with all links and credits attached), and is not sold for profit.

Clichés are ubiquitous in many marketing collaterals. Itâ??s as if every printing company in the world are espousing for the ads to have clichés in them. Yeah, they may be great attention getters, but guess what? Most often than not, the humor and twist you put in your ad copy takes the seriousness out of your message, making it too weak to actually make a positive impression on your readers.

Clichés often confuse rather than emphasize your message to your target clients. Not only do you bewilder your readers with what you really mean, but the danger of having clichés in your ad copy is that your readers most often misinterpret and give a new meaning to your message that is totally out of context. Even if itâ??s not your intention, youâ??re actually giving your readers the license to come up with their own definition of your message. This often leads to a rejection instead of acceptance of your offer in your tools such as your print flyers. With clichés, your readers might even be wondering on the relevance and value of your copy and relate it to how you do your business.

This is the rule â?? stop using clichés for your headline and copy and youâ??ll actually get more response to your marketing campaign. Itâ??s that simple. Without a cliché to confuse your readers to what you really mean, the better it is for your clients to understand what you want from your ad such as your print flyers.

Instead, use provocative and appealing headlines that make them realize of your capability to serve their needs. And write ad copies that make them want to think and include your offer in their decision-making processes. The more you make it simple for them to understand your message, the quicker it is for them to decide favorably on your offer.

The key is to not let them trip over your message while reading your ad copy. You have an opportunity of convincing your target market of your worth with your collaterals. Getting them hooked and interested instantly in what you have to say should be your main purpose of getting your collaterals reproduced by your printing company. So donâ??t miss out on your opportunity to convince your target clients of your value. Avoid giving clichés because your readers are just so over it.

Let’s begin with the most reported and repeated phrase in real estate, “Location, location, location”. This is the notion that the number one selling point for any property is its location- not the house itself, but the value in the location it sits on. Now, as much as this is the most nauseatingly repeated slogan in the business, much of it stands strong and true. If a market plummets, better locations will never suffer as hard of a hit as other less desirable areas. But, it’s important to qualify that along with the truth of this statement, is a contradiction. Sometimes it’s better to invest “just next door” to the prime “location, location, location.” Many prime neighborhoods become priced out for the average buyer, in which case what is “hot” begins to spread and the “it” location starts to take in other near-by areas.

“Price to sell”, is another golden phrase you may have had to choke down in your real estate transactions. This one is certainly true. It seems obvious that you’d want to price anything at the right price in order to move it. But what is not really explored in this hiccup of a phrase, is, what is “the right price”? There are a couple situations that many sellers assume to be “the right way” to price their home. One is to price low, with the desired intent to spark a bidding war. The other idea is to price a house as high as possible- in competition with the highest home on the block.

Both these approaches hold a particular set of problems. A low priced home can have the desired effect of brewing up a feisty bidding war and garnering a winningly high sale price- but only if the market is hot, the home is in pristine condition and located in an incredibly desirable neighborhood. Oftentimes in such a situation the seller is simply stuck with a serious of low ball offers that undermine his or her expectations.

If a seller prices too high, they run the risk of the property sitting for a long time and then eventually having to cut the price down the line. None of this bodes well for the reputation of the home in the eyes of buyers agents. An overpriced home can be an instant turn-off to clients and eventually agents won’t bother showing it. In the eyes of sellers, a home that has been “just reduced” begs the questions, ” why reduced?.. “what’s wrong with it?”.

So, with pricing it’s a matter of consulting an expert to get that “right price”. Have your home appraised by numerous realtors and get a detailed history of what other properties in your neighborhood have sold for in the past while. From here, you can really assess how your home stacks up and what is going to be “the right price” to sell your home as quickly as possible, and for a price your happy with.

How about, “But the worst house on the best street”. So again, there is a whole lot of truth buried in this repeated catch phrase. When you buy the best house on the best street, there’s not a whole lot you can do to quickly leverage your investment. It’s already the best house on the best street. If, however you’re lucky enough to score the worst house on the best street, then your sweat equity and improvements should pay off. There is already a high constant value in the home’s, “location, location, location.” All you have to do is improve the property itself.

But to play devils advocate, this may not ring true if you are categorically against putting any improvement time and money into the house in question. The worst house on the street is not going to do much for you if you just sit there and do nothing. This truism, is only as true as the work you put into making lemons into lemonade- and transforming that worst house on the street into, at the very least, ” no-longer the worst house on the street”.

Today, many people are complaining that they do not have any time to do what the want. Working people feel that they are stuck in a dead end job. Worst of all, peoples’ stress levels are at the highest point ever. You can use clichés to solve some of these situations.

I am not going to tell you how to solve all of your problems, but I can share with you some creative solutions to help you move forward. Using clichés, I will help you sculpt the life that you have always dreamed about.

A little background about myself; I am a person who strongly feels that if you do not get advice where there is a similar cliché already available, the advice is probably not worth anything. (Reread that last line it is a killer.)

If somebody tells you that you should do the right thing right now or else it will come back to haunt you, it translates to the cliché, “A stitch in time saves nine”.

When a friend advises you that you should probably stop arguing with someone, you made your point, the cliché, “Quit while you are ahead” is interchangeable. Clichés are based on redundancy and years of experience. You can be assured that they are factual and true. Advice that can not be related to a cliché, is simply untested. Perhaps some day it may become a cliché but in the mean time I’m not applying it until it is a cliché.

HOW I FOUND OUT CLICHÃ?S ARE SO POWERFUL

When I was writing my first book, “Millionaires’ Secrets Revealed, I conducted countless hours of research. I interviewed self-made millionaires. I read self-help books. I studied success classics like, “Think and Grow Rich”, by Napoleon Hill. (Incidentally, the book’s title is practically a cliché these days. Entire motivational speaking careers have been built on this single phrase.) As I researched my book, I kept seeing the same advice phrased in different ways.

In the beginning of my research it seemed like a coincidence. As the same information continued to surface I knew that I found some common factors that made successful people. Essentially, many of these authors took a cliché and turned it into a chapter. This article will show you how to take a chapter and return it to a cliché. A cliché is probably the most sincere form of the truth.

For example, most successful people insisted that you must care for your body. You must exercise and eat well. This translated to, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” It can also be said that, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” These days the cliché is forming, “eat well and exercise.”

BAD ADVICE IS NEVER TURNED INTO A CLICHÃ?

Have you ever heard this one? “Sticking your finger in an outlet saves the amp meter”. OR, “Lying to friends, makes amends.” What about this one, “An ounce of procrastination is worth a pile of time.” These will never make the mainstream because they are all bad advice. This further proves my point that when advice become a cliché it is absolutely true.”

NOW LET’S FIX SOME OF YOUR PROBLEMS WITH THE RIGHT CLICHÃ?

First we must address the dead-end job and your high stress levels. We will need my favorite cliché. “I would rather be the watch maker than the time keeper” (that cliché made it into my book.) What does this mean? Lets suppose that you work in a retail store. If you did not show up for work, the schedule would probably be ruined. You would fall into the category of “Time Keeper”. Is your job, “mission critical”? Do you have to trade with people to get days off? Are you the only person who performs certain tasks? Do you need to plan in advance to get time for yourself? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you are a “Time Keeper”.

The solution, take small steps today that will take you closer to becoming a “Watch Maker.” The “Watch Maker’s” job is finished when the watch is made. From that point on it is up to the person who purchased the watch to check what time it is.

You don’t have any time for yourself. Why don’t you, “take a moment to smell the roses.” Lets break down this cliché. ‘Take’, is an action. ‘Take’, empowers you to do something. It is up to you to give yourself the time. If you rely on others, they will only ask you to do something for them. ‘A moment’, is a small period of time. Sometimes it is just a little nap, or a small break that will recharge your energy.

In closing, I would like to leave you with a little investing advice, “Buy low and sell high.” Before you give any investing advice yourself, you should, “Put your money where your mouth is.”

Keep applying those clichés and you will improve your live. Always remember, unless it is a cliché, it is not worth listening to. A cliché is the most notable quotable!