A Cup of Tea With Me

Some of my readers have already read this. To you all, I apologize. There will be new devotions, soon.

Psalm 15:3 He does not slander, or do harm to others, or insult his neighbor. (NET)

One of my sins is slander or gossip. I normally do not start the process, but I almost always get caught up in the negativeness of gossiping about people, when I am at work. I realize this is wrong, and I need to change this. I have confessed the sin of gossiping about others, and will make an effort to stop what seems to come so naturally to me.

Did Christ whisper to John that he knew Judas was going to betray him? No, I think not. Gossip does not model Christ-like behavior to others. It encourages others to think and talk negatively about our neighbors, acquaintances and even our friends. Many times, if someone is willing to gossip with you about someone you both know, don’t you know that person is gossiping about you to others? Also, you are most likely doing the same. Gossiping about one friend to another, then turning around and gossiping about the second friend to a third.

This is a viscous cycle that we need to break in today society. God created all men equal. We are not to judge others. We are to love others.

Next time I am in a situation where gossip comes into the conversation, I will do one of three things:

• Say something nice about the object of the gossip. Point out good qualities, instead of focusing on the negative.
• Change the subject.
• Politely ask the person to not gossip. Tell them that it is something I am trying to weed out of my life and maybe they could hold me accountable. If I start to gossip, they could remind me.

If you have the sin of gossip in your life, I urge you to confess it now, and join me in my personal challenge to not gossip, and to let others know it is no long a part of our lives.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 19th, 2007 at 7:24 am and is filed under Devotions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.