Proverbs 11:13 A gossip betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy man keeps a secret.

1 Timothy 5:13 Besides, they get into the habit of being idle and going about from house to house. And not only do they become idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying things they ought not to.

I’m not going to lie…there was a time that I gossiped and listen to gossip a lot. I’m not proud of that fact but it’s the truth. Even when I became a committed Christian I still did it and listened to it. But at this point in my life…. and having been living a Christian life now for 27 years…. I have gotten much better. (Thank God…right?) I have to stay on top of it because the temptation is always there.

The reason I am doing better with this these days is because I abide in the Lord and He in me. Also I walk in the Spirit. (This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. Galatians 5:16) This is what happens to me now when I’m faced with the temptation to gossip. My mind thinks the thought I’m about to say. I can hear my thoughts before I speak them and the Holy Spirit taps me on the shoulder and says “don’t say that”. And if someone starts to tell me something about someone else…I stop them and say I don’t what to hear that.

I do my best to be 100% at this. I have to be very discerning because I’m a prayer intercessor and there are times I have to listen to a person tell me their problem or someone else’s problem because they are asking for prayer. If you are a blabber mouth…nobody would ever ask you to pray for them.

Many years ago a person spread some awful things about me in my church. One of my friends overheard her telling lies to a group of ladies. I was so hurt and angry. So I did what then?….you guessed it….went straight to the pastor ( poor pastors…they get this stuff all the time). He was so nice and very wise. He told me not to confront her….he knew her and knew she was not the nicest person so confronting her would be like backing a squirrel into a corner…so his advice was to leave the situation alone. He said her personality would expose her and he was right. A few months later she cursed out someone in church in front of everybody.

Gossip is very destructive…. to the person who is being spoken about and the person doing the gossiping.   

Message for today: When gossip comes your way….. Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4:7