SEALED LIPS
May 19, 2022
Prayer: Dear Lord, please help me know when to speak and when to keep silent today. Please let my conscience bother me today when I speak the wrong words and then I will learn wisdom. I pray in Jesus’s name. Amen
Scripture: A gossip goes about telling secrets, but one who is trustworthy in spirit, keeps a confidence. Proverbs 11:13 NRSV
The saying goes, “If you don’t have something nice to say, come sit next to me.”
Gossip
This one word can stir up so many thoughts and emotions.
If you have been the victim of gossip, you know that the pain is indescribable and getting the truth to circulate like the rumor is about impossible. If you have helped to spread gossip only to find out later that your information was not true, you know the embarrassment it can cause. Your trustworthiness goes down the drain as the truth unfolds. Perhaps you were just passing on information to someone and it later came back around to you as a “someone said… story.”
We see our students spread gossip and fall victim to it, sometimes all in the same day.
As Christians, we detest gossip, but somehow find ourselves wrapped up in it whether we watch shows that spread the latest stories about our favorite celebrities, read newsstand rumor magazines, or sit in the pew at church talking about another family and the problems they are going through. We have even been known to pass off gossip as a prayer request, going into greater detail or using names instead of laying them at the feet of God.
During a situation I was involved in, we needed to gather pertinent information to resolve the problem. Many times we would stop to pray that God would search our hearts and seal our lips if at any point our search for truth turned to gossip.
Here are some quick questions to ask yourself if you are in a similar situation that makes you stop and ask, “Am I gossiping?” Are you just curious or sincerely concerned? Are you willing to be part of the solution or will your knowing just add to the problem? Will you take this information to God or your best friend (and anyone else you might run into along the way)? If this information was being spread about you, how would you feel? Is this for righteousness or revenge? Matthew Henry’s commentary on today’s verse states that, “A faithful man will not disclose what he is trusted with, unless the honor of God and the real good of society require it.”
My prayer for us is that we would share our prayer requests with great care and receive them with caring respect. May what we share with our prayer group be lifted up to God and no one else. We also pray that gossip would stay far from us.
Copyright Kathy Branzell. To connect with the author, email [email protected]
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