"Let the words of my mouth and the medication of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, Oh Lord, my strength and my Redeemer". Psalm 19:14
"The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences". Proverbs 18:21
"Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips"! Psalm 141:3
"An evil man sows strife; gossip separates the best of friends." Proverb 16:28(Living)
"Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear". Ephesians 4:29
"An evil man sows strife; gossip separates the best of friends." Proverb 16:28(Living)
"Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear". Ephesians 4:29
Have you ever been around a person and just about everything that comes out of his or her mouth is about someone else? Now as you are thinking about the answer to that question. Remember that as we grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ we must always look first in the mirror before turn around and look at someone else. So let's be truthful for a minute. Is that person you? If it is take a minute and read the verses above one more time. I love the way God uses the Word to cut us to prune away the things that are not like Him. Just last week the preacher preached on "the tongue" and as I was reading my prayer devotional this morning I literally laughed out loud when I saw the title was "Gossip". So many times we open up our mouths to talk without thinking, uttering careless words that we cannot take back. Have you ever stopped to think about how many lives you have ruined just because you decided to share a piece of information about someone else? And how many friendships have you damaged because one friend confides in you and you go and tell another friend that has no real ties to the other person. Or better yet, you are that friend who just thrives on talking about other people's misery. Every time someone mentions a name you have a story to tell even if it was from ten years ago. Now don't get me wrong there are true friends that you can share something with and time has revealed that they will keep that confidence and pray with you in agreement for that other person. Let me assure you that the percentage of those individuals is very small. Thank God I know someone that sticks closer than a brother who I can tell all my deepest secrets and know that they will never be repeated.
The older I get the more I am learning that I have enough business in my own life to always be worried about someone else. I am also learning how I don't really have tolerance for others who seem to get pleasure out of always talking about other people. That is just the convicting power of the Holy Spirit helping to keep my mind focused on other things. So let's look at what the Word has to say about these things. First of all it talks about how 'death and life are in the power of the tongue'. This means that the so-called harmless words that you speak can do much more damage than you realize causing harm to the innocent. We all fall into the trap of what starts out as an innocent conversation and then before you know it we are either listening or talking about someone else. That in itself is not so bad if we acknowledge that it is wrong and redirect the conversation back to words that build others up instead of tearing them down. As a Christian shouldn't it be our job especially to stay away from that type of conversation. Absolutely! And if this is a place where you are weak, it is simply a matter of asking God to help you to overcome this sin. Bridle my tongue dear Lord! The problem has always been that we place degrees on sin. Gossip is not as bad as murder. Gossip is not as bad as adultery. Gossip is not as bad as drinking or doing drugs. You know why most people say this? Because murder, adultery, drinking and doing drugs are things that you can see while gossip is something that the most dressed up Sunday go-to-meeting individual can do in secret right after singing the morning hymn. But let me set the record straight, a sin is a sin is a sin. God frowns on them all.
So the bottom line is that we have to get better. If you are a person who finds yourself always talking about others from the pulpit to the back pew, ask God to forgive you. If you are a person who feels that you are better because you don't talk about people all the time but you listen to what others have to say about other people, it's time to ask God for forgiveness. I have always wondered how much better off the body of Christ would be if we spent more time encouraging and praying for our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ instead of talking about them. What an awesome experience of the power of God we would experience! Truth be told we all go through things and we all sin and fall short of the glory of God. Just because one person's sin might become public information doesn't mean that any one of us gets to escape the final judgment of the sins we commit in private when we will held accountable for everything that we have done. I don't know about you but I would like that time to be as short as possible so that I can hurry up and spend time with my Lord and Savior to thank Him face to face for everything that He did for me. For when we all get to heaven, what a time, what a time, what a time!
Most Gracious Heavenly Father,
I come to You today first of all thanking You for the revealing power of the Word. That same Word that is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. I come to You today asking for forgiveness. Once again I opened my mouth to speak before I thought, talking behind someone's back. Give me the strength and courage to ask for forgiveness. I realize the damage that gossip can do. Help me not to get caught up in the snares of others who are gossiping. Help me to build up the lives of others instead of slowly chiseling and breaking them down. Fill my thoughts with things that are good and right. Let everything I do and say be pleasing in Thy sight. In the Wonderful Name of Jesus I pray Amen.
Have you ever been around a person and just about everything that comes out of his or her mouth is about someone else? Now as you are thinking about the answer to that question. Remember that as we grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ we must always look first in the mirror before turn around and look at someone else. So let's be truthful for a minute. Is that person you? If it is take a minute and read the verses above one more time. I love the way God uses the Word to cut us to prune away the things that are not like Him. Just last week the preacher preached on "the tongue" and as I was reading my prayer devotional this morning I literally laughed out loud when I saw the title was "Gossip". So many times we open up our mouths to talk without thinking, uttering careless words that we cannot take back. Have you ever stopped to think about how many lives you have ruined just because you decided to share a piece of information about someone else? And how many friendships have you damaged because one friend confides in you and you go and tell another friend that has no real ties to the other person. Or better yet, you are that friend who just thrives on talking about other people's misery. Every time someone mentions a name you have a story to tell even if it was from ten years ago. Now don't get me wrong there are true friends that you can share something with and time has revealed that they will keep that confidence and pray with you in agreement for that other person. Let me assure you that the percentage of those individuals is very small. Thank God I know someone that sticks closer than a brother who I can tell all my deepest secrets and know that they will never be repeated.
The older I get the more I am learning that I have enough business in my own life to always be worried about someone else. I am also learning how I don't really have tolerance for others who seem to get pleasure out of always talking about other people. That is just the convicting power of the Holy Spirit helping to keep my mind focused on other things. So let's look at what the Word has to say about these things. First of all it talks about how 'death and life are in the power of the tongue'. This means that the so-called harmless words that you speak can do much more damage than you realize causing harm to the innocent. We all fall into the trap of what starts out as an innocent conversation and then before you know it we are either listening or talking about someone else. That in itself is not so bad if we acknowledge that it is wrong and redirect the conversation back to words that build others up instead of tearing them down. As a Christian shouldn't it be our job especially to stay away from that type of conversation. Absolutely! And if this is a place where you are weak, it is simply a matter of asking God to help you to overcome this sin. Bridle my tongue dear Lord! The problem has always been that we place degrees on sin. Gossip is not as bad as murder. Gossip is not as bad as adultery. Gossip is not as bad as drinking or doing drugs. You know why most people say this? Because murder, adultery, drinking and doing drugs are things that you can see while gossip is something that the most dressed up Sunday go-to-meeting individual can do in secret right after singing the morning hymn. But let me set the record straight, a sin is a sin is a sin. God frowns on them all.
So the bottom line is that we have to get better. If you are a person who finds yourself always talking about others from the pulpit to the back pew, ask God to forgive you. If you are a person who feels that you are better because you don't talk about people all the time but you listen to what others have to say about other people, it's time to ask God for forgiveness. I have always wondered how much better off the body of Christ would be if we spent more time encouraging and praying for our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ instead of talking about them. What an awesome experience of the power of God we would experience! Truth be told we all go through things and we all sin and fall short of the glory of God. Just because one person's sin might become public information doesn't mean that any one of us gets to escape the final judgment of the sins we commit in private when we will held accountable for everything that we have done. I don't know about you but I would like that time to be as short as possible so that I can hurry up and spend time with my Lord and Savior to thank Him face to face for everything that He did for me. For when we all get to heaven, what a time, what a time, what a time!
Most Gracious Heavenly Father,
I come to You today first of all thanking You for the revealing power of the Word. That same Word that is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. I come to You today asking for forgiveness. Once again I opened my mouth to speak before I thought, talking behind someone's back. Give me the strength and courage to ask for forgiveness. I realize the damage that gossip can do. Help me not to get caught up in the snares of others who are gossiping. Help me to build up the lives of others instead of slowly chiseling and breaking them down. Fill my thoughts with things that are good and right. Let everything I do and say be pleasing in Thy sight. In the Wonderful Name of Jesus I pray Amen.
