Posts
I apologize for missing a post last week... again. My family has been taking turns with some virus. I was sick for a week and a half myself and still have a little bit of a lingering cough.
Sometimes I will have something just hit my spirit and I need to write about it. I am not sure what exactly brought it up today but here it is. Gossip.
Proverbs 16:28 A dishonest man spreads strife, and a whisperer separates close friends.
Why do we gossip? Did we not learn in grade school that it never works out the way you think it will? Didn't you get yourself in enough trouble and not want to go there again? I have never liked gossip, not a fan at all and if you start trying to talk to me about someone I am probably going to give them the benefit of the doubt. I am probably going to say something you don't like and we won't be talking about it anymore. Usually someone who gossips wants you to go along with it and listen if nothing else. I really try to put a stop to that right away.
I have been hurt by gossip way too much. It's happened in my family. There isn't much to do but forgive and move on but I know it's being done and it still hurts. Do you think that it's ok to gossip about someone if you do it in church? Well it's not. Don't you think it could divide the church, causing you to focus on the wrong things? Do you think it's ok to gossip if you are only talking about someone with your sister? It's not. It divides families and homeschool groups and churches. It changes the opinions about the other person no matter what you think and they will not be able to hide how they feel. They are probably going to say something to that person that lets them know you guys were talking about them. Trust me.
I can tell you that the people who have gossiped about me don't really know me, not well anyways, even the family members. They talk about things I have done or they believe I have done and it's not true and always misunderstood. Some of those people try to pretend and be nice to my face and others don't really care too much and they say things that let me know I was the topic of a recent discussion. Their opinion of me has been forever changed and I can't do anything about it. It's hurtful.
The worst part of this? All the people I know doing it claim to be Christian. What does God say about gossip? Do you follow Jesus or do you say you do, while acting however you want to? I don't care about how you try to appear to others, God sees all my friends. Think before you gossip.
I do know that I don't care about impressing others. If you want to gossip about me, just know that I know about it and I am going to let God handle you, but you are missing out, cause I am a pretty cool person. :) I do my best to serve Jesus and he knows my heart no matter what you may think you know about me. I will not tell you all the things I do or try to lift myself up to make you like me. These verses explain why I believe we shouldn't do that.
My hope is that this will just make you think before you talk. Think about the person you may be hurting. Think about how as a Christian you look to the non-Christian who could be seeking. May the Lord convict your heart and help us all to live the way He has commanded. This world needs us to show God in all areas of life. <3 p="p">
Psalm 10:3
For the wicked boasteth of his heart's desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the LORD abhorreth.
"[But] take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise you will have no heavenly recompense from your heavenly Father. When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win the praise of others. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that almsgiving may be secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
When you pray, do not be like hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may see them. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him."
Matthew 6: 1-8 (NAV)
