I generally don't think of myself as a gossiper. Who does? But several weeks ago, my husband was confessing a specific incident where he thought he had painted someone in a bad light by a comment that he made about them. He shared that he thought that this was gossip and that he needed to follow up with appropriate individuals out of repentance, and be more careful only to speak words that build up. Mind you, I didn't even think that the incident he was referring to was gossip; it seemed to me that he was only re-telling about something that happened. The Lord convicted me though, that gossip is just what Josh had said-something that has the potential to "paint someone in a bad light." Whether or not it actually does that isn't the point. So...how much of my speech is gossip?
This quote by Spurgeon's devotional, "Morning & Evening," from November 27th gets right to the heart of it.
"Whether the report be true or false, we are by this precept of God's Word forbidden to spread it. The reputations of the Lord's people should be very precious in our sight, and we should count it shame to help the devil to dishonour the Church and the name of the Lord. Some tongues need a bridle rather than a spur. Many glory in pulling down their brethren, as if thereby they raised themselves. Noah's wise sons cast a mantle over their father, and he who exposed him earned a fearful curse. We may ourselves one of these dark days need forbearance and silence from our brethren, let us render it cheerfully to those who require it now. Be this our family rule, and our personal bond-SPEAK EVIL OF NO MAN."
Lord, help me to speak evil of no man today!
excellent reminder! I may have to borrow it for my site because it is a great encouragement and reminder for my "family" too! I need to write that quote down and paste it ....well, I was going to say on the wall, but maybe my forehead would be better - that way when I look in the mirror, I will see how much there is in me that could be painted in a bad light.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this.