"Lord, set up a guard for my mouth; keep watch at the door of my lips... Do not let me feast on their delicacies." Psalm 141: 3, 4
Blessed are the hard of hearing for they shall miss much idle gossip --Unknown
She picked up the phone, her voice sounded sad since she knew by caller id, who was calling. "I am sorry for everything that came out my mouth." I said. "It's OK," she replied, and just like that, the call ended and a friendship did too.
I was sixteen and a Junior in High School. Out of all the temptations in High School a teenager can walk into, gossip is the most enticing because it seems the least sinful. Something had happened between two of my best friends, each told me their side of the story and soon I was caught in the middle. I decided to feast on gossips delicacies and took one of my friend's sides, and with out even witnessing what had truly happened, just having heard it by mouth, I started telling all of our friends what the "other" friend had done to the friend I sided with. By the end of the week, no one wanted to talk to my now, "ex-friend," and she and I passed each other by as if we were complete strangers. She confronted me in the bathroom one day, and gave me no chance to explain myself; she had all the right. I called her sometime after that and apologized, but our bond as friends died, and took a long time to build up again.
We make mistakes as youth, I know, but sometimes now as adults we can still find ourselves getting into the same mess as we did when we were young. I love how the key verse is a plea to have God keep WATCH at the door of our lips! If we asked God that prayer, passionately every morning, I know, gossip would not get past The Watchman. God hates a gossiping tongue. We can find this through many verses in the bible and it makes sense, we were created to praise our Creator, use our mouths to build-up, use our tongues to encourage and motivate.
When faced with a person or situation that is difficult and needs some attention, instead of criticizing them, you need to go to that person and tell them what the bible says about that situation, "Let the righteous strike me-it is an act of faithful love; let him rebuke me- it is oil for my head; let me not refuse it." psalm 141: 5 But remember to back up every of your points with love, mercy but above all, the Word of God.
Remember, gossip is a sin, yet we fall for it every time, because it "seems," the least sinful, but can do so much damage!
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