Friday, March 27, 2015

A Sure Way to Separate Friends...

Gossip. I'm sure I've written about this before, but a friend has been posting all week on Instagram about the tongue and the power that it has. (If you are on Instagram, you really should check out/follow Kristina's 'knowing him and making him known' group. It is full of inspiration and challenge.)

One day, she showed me this and and the wheels of my mind began to turn:


I have MUCH experience with gossip, believe me!
I used to love it.
It used to give me a feeling of importance,
a rush of excitement to share news about others
that someone else may not have known.

And then one day,
amidst God teaching me not to do that,
things came crashing upon me,
and I learned in a very real way
how devastating gossip can be.

Sometimes it seems like an
 innocent thing to discuss others 
with your friends,
but let me tell you,
GOD HATES IT!

I now know the hard way how
very sickening it is to discover
that people you thought you
could trust, who you thought were 
your friends, 
had been discussing you
(and getting it wrong!)
behind your back,
assuming things that were 
completely false,
and making blanket statements
that were not even
close to accurate.

As I walked through that experience,
the light turned on in my heart,
and I saw gossip/slander in a way
like never before.
And I hate it now!

Women like to talk.
(well, many of us anyway)
We like to share news
and discuss the why's and the
wherefore's of situations.
(think: quilting bee or baking day
or even, God forbid, church ladies' night
on Wednesdays)

Ladies, be careful.
You should make it 
your goal to never say 
what you would not say
if the person you are talking about
to others would be present.

And what gives us the liberty to 
gossip about others and their sins,
or what we perceive to be faults?
Can we claim to be perfect 
and without sin?!

It has been my experience that
when I started hating gossip
(God hates it, too!),
then a compassion began to grow
in my heart towards others
like never before.

The truth is, were you to be
God and see into the hearts
of those you don't understand
or agree with,
you would see things there
that would cause you to be
ashamed of your current
thoughts towards them.



If you have a gossip problem,
and you name the name of Christ,
I urge you, ladies, to please
get on your knees and ask for mercy,
and ask for the Light of life to
illuminate your hearts and minds.
Take your Living Word, the
Holy Bible,
and see what God says about
gossip,
slander,
and the tongue.

Then purpose to speak
only what and when God
tells you to...
He has the power you need
to change and to become
more Christlike in
the words you say.

I am not perfect in this yet.
Sometimes it becomes necessary
to share something about someone else
with a third party.
From my perspective,
we should do so very, very
cautiously, and prayerfully.

We all are on a journey.
One day, the one you 
are gossiping about may
change and become renewed
in the area that is annoying or disturbing 
you currently.
What will all those people do
with the information that you 
gave them unwisely and unkindly
about that person?
Will he/she be forever marked as the one
who (fill in the blank),
because you so rudely shared 
that information with them?

This is a subject very close to my heart,
and I share it with you, feeling very vulnerable.
Please, please measure your words
and keep them in the shadow of the Cross.

Our churches will be strengthened 
and our friendships more trusting
if we choose not to gossip.

Love and blessings,
Marcia

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