Just Stop

Stop! Just stop! Those are words I used to silently scream to myself in the middle of conversations. I can remember riding the bus home from basketball tournaments and football games filled with ugly thoughts of people who had rubbed me the wrong way during the games. Parents complaining, girls judging me, boys taunting me. I could never leave those thoughts in my head, so I would turn to the nearest family member or friend and "vent my frustrations." I did this for many years until God got a hold of me. Did you know in Proverbs 6:16-19 God tells us He HATES gossip! He absolutely HATES it! James 1:26 even says "If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless." I think He especially hates it when it so smoothly oozes from our lips disguised as "deserved" venting sessions, prayer requests, or buffered with phrases such as "I'm not judging them, but..."

Here's the hard Truth...gossip is gossip. When we need to vent our frustrations, I think it's okay to talk to someone. But we need to check the motivation of our hearts within those frustrations. If your words are revealing to a listening party that you have deep rooted feelings you need to work on, you need prayer, or you are seeking Godly counsel...that's one thing. More often than not, however, someone has done something to hurt us, so our flesh begins to rise up within us. More often than not, we are talking to place ourselves on a pedestal of right-ness, while revealing the nakedness of someone else. Shame on us.

Bottom line, God hates gossip (Did you hear that Summer?) God hates gossip. And He's showing me that not only does He hate the act of someone doing it, but He also hates when we sit around and pretend like it's not happening. When we hear gossip going on, to avoid confrontation or to make sure we won't be the next topic of someone's gossip...we sit silent. (Ok, Summer, you REALLY need to listen to this one!) So, let's check our hearts before we speak words that tear into someone else's soul. Let's speak LIFE!