Notepad Session: Gossip

gossip. one little word that can mean so much. it defines the evil that words can accomplish and cause people to commit. i see gossip all the time. it is like an addictive drug that is hard to quit. once you gossip, it never seems to stop. yet, it can have deadly consequences and destructive long-term results.

i have seen the blatant uselessness and damage that gossiping can cause. first it doesn't solve the gossipers problems with another person. if they are not willing to discuss the issues with a particular person then what goal does it accomplish besides making whoever look bad in front of the gossipers audience.

second- it destroys relationships. you can never have a good relationship with the other person on because what is between you to is unresolved. by refusing to talk and try to gain some common ground, there will always be bitterness and anger under the surface when you encounters them. this may cause you to look for reasons to complain about the person, instead of trying to look for ways to to get along and fix them.

it also wrecks relationships if gossip becomes a rumor. by talking about it with an audience, then every member of your audience can go and spread it with someone else who has had contact with them. and if that person found out that you had been talking with them behind their back, it could erupt feud or quiet into an emotional array of bitterness and animosity.

i hope and pray to God that i resist the urge to gossip. because it is the most useless and destructive kind of conversation. the Bible tells us to live quiet lives and mind their own business. proverbs and the book of james warned about controlling the tongue, and avoiding gossipping. i agree with it wholeheartedly. i pray that my words try to dissuade gossipping and urge them to discuss their problems with the other person and to not make a problem worse.

i know that's what I'd want. i would much rather have someone confront me with my sin against them, then to find out that they recruited a band of followers by gossipping about it. that is how godly people do it and that is what the Scriptures (including the words of Jesus!) call us to do.

Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father,I confess to you that my words are sinful. they have gossiped and have said Your name in vain many times. As a brother of mine long ago said, "My ears had heard of You but now my eyes have seen You. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes"(Job 42:5-6). I pray that You forgive me and cleanse me from all unrighteousness(1Jn1:9) through Jesus' blood that was shed on the cross. I thank You for Your forgiveness.

I pray that you help me to use my words for your glory and to resist the temptation to gossip and to use my words for evil. i pray my words do nothing but advance your kingdom and help me to know when I have messed up immediately so that i can repent and seek forgiveness and give me the courage to correct the wrongs and seek forgiveness. Love, Andrena Through the name of my Great Mediator, and my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Amen.