She was just about to spill it….all the juicy details of the whole situation.
Being completely human, I really wanted to hear about what happened. My curious side was waiting on the edge of my seat as the latest scoop was about to be divulged. (Hey, just keeping it real here)
But then the Holy Spirit inside prompted me, “This isn’t right”.
“I KNOW!!!” I inwardly thought, a little disappointed and annoyed that I had to do the right thing.
And then like I turn the steering wheel on my car, I gracefully maneuvered the conversation in a different direction by saying something positive about the person and situation that was about to be sliced and diced.
No, I don’t know the latest gossip….but I think I maintained my integrity.
Proverbs 18:8 says, “The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to the inmost parts.”
Now read it in the Message Version because It. Is. Awesome.
Listening to gossip is like eating cheap candy;
Do you really want junk like that in your belly?
I have a friend who absolutely avoids cheap chocolate---she’ll only eat the good stuff. Her reasoning, “I’m not wasting the fat and calories on something that isn’t fabulous.” Hence, she has become a chocolate connoisseur. (And trust me, she knows where to get the good chocolate.)
Perhaps we should all determine to follow her example---especially when it comes to our conversations.
What if each of us in our own lives determined that we were not going to gorge ourselves on the seemingly delicious morsel of gossip, but instead determined that our conversations would be of a higher quality? (Proverbs 26:22)
What if we chose to build each other up rather than tear one another down? (Ephesians 4:29)
Talked about people the way we want others to speak of us…..(Matthew 7:12)
And examined our hearts to ask, “Why is this piece of gossip so appealing to me?
What’s in my heart that wants to hear bad things about another person? (Psalm 4:4)
Are there unresolved issues in my heart that need to be addressed? (Proverbs 24:17-19)
Does their pain make me feel better about myself? (What does that say about me?)
Ooooh, this is getting a little sticky.
Maybe it’s time we stop excusing the sin of gossip as a little thing with the same rationale that says, “I only ate a chocolate chip…it’s not like I ate an entire chocolate cheesecake”.
Instead, we should look at gossip as the tiny pebble in our shoe that is so irritating and so painful that it might as well be a boulder. Either way, we need to Get. It. Out!!!!
Most definitely, it’s time that we put gossip on the same scale that Paul puts it in Romans 1:29-32---right there with the “BIG” sins---because it is a big deal.
It hurts people, families, reputations, and lives.
As women seeking to follow God and share His love, we need to do all we can to weed this sin our of our lives forever---to listen to the call of the Holy Spirit, turn our conversations the other direction and avoid the sin of gossip.
Instead, like my friend on the quest for the best chocolate, let’s fill our conversations with grace, mercy, and healing. Just a thought.
Be gracious in your speech. The goal is to bring out the best in others in a conversation, not put them down, not cut them out.
Colossians 4:6 The Message
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