Admittedly, the tongue is difficult to control andwe all have made mistakes in one way or another. But like every formof sin, malicious gossip is something the Lord takes very seriously.Praise God for forgiveness. However, this does not justify ignoringany problem which we might have in controling our speech. We mustseek to change and conform our lives to His will. God wants ourtongues to be tools in His service, not the enemy's.
Which of the following is not gossip:
___Showing that you have the inside scoop onwhat's going on by sharing personal information aboutothers.
___Telling the truth about someone, but thisresults in hurting that person's name
___Deliberately slandering someone through whatyou say
___Spreading a lie about someone
As you guessed it, all of these constitute gossip.Just because something is true (or you think it is true) doesnot make it OK to share that piece of information with others. Whatis the motive for sharing something? Does it conform to edifying,building up or to training someone how they ought to grow? Or doesthe motive arise out of something much darker? Might it bubble upfrom the self-centered desire to show others I am in the know orperhaps from a quasi clandestine strike to wound?
As people dedicated to growing more and more intothe image of Christ, what can we do?
1) Do not listen to gossip. We can let aperson know that we do not want to know the inside dirty scoop onothers. We enable others to sin, if we passively allow others to fillus with trash.
2) Deliberately pray for your enemies.Instead of spreading the news about why they are so terrible, prayfor spiritual growth in their actions and behavior.
3) Focus on doing good towards and blessingthat person you might be tempted to slander. If our energy isfocusing on loving others, then there is less room available for evilmotives to sneak in.
4) We can pray for ourselves and oneanother that we might resist temptation.
May we not sin through those words we choose tosay! May our LORD use our words as choice tools in Hisservice.
Barry Newton, Copyright © 2004
For additional related devotional thoughtsfrom Scripture, consider:
Proverbs 12:23; 16:28; 17:9; 18:8;20:19
James 3:1-12 especially verses 10-12
Ephesians 4:29; 5:4-20; 1 Corinthians6:9-11
Other Resources Which May be ofInterest:
Is It Gossip If It Is True?Judging My Use of His Tool (On our speech)
Fire Breathing Acid Spitting Aliens (On our speech)
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