Gossip

Oh how I love a good story. Stories are my thing. I have noticed as I have gotten older I tend to tell more stories and it seems to take me forever to tell just any ole thing. Trips to the grocery store, shopping trips to the mall, even an explanation about morning traffic seems to drag on out. There are times that I catch myself thinking "Hurry up!" and you know, if you tell yourself to hurry up then you are obviously telling too long of a "fish tale!"

.

However, I also tend to gossip. I have to really watch myself most days because if I don't, before long, I am like the neighborhood busy body who knows all, sees all and tells all! I don't like that trait about myself so I try to keep it in check.

.

Kristina is my go-to person. When I just can't seem to hold in the gossip I have heard I will usually tell her. One Saturday she and I had been real quiet all day long and by late afternoon I just couldn't take it any more and I said "Kristina, oh my goodness I heard some gossip and I've been trying so hard not to tell..." when she interrupted me and said "I thought you would NEVER say something! I heard gossip too!" Come to find out we both had heard the exact same thing and guess what? We later learned that our information was dead wrong!

.

I was sitting in Sunday School yesterday morning and our teacher began to talk about how Peter was preaching the truth and how other people can tell if you believe in what you are speaking about and I became so convicted about gossiping. I began to think about all the gossip I had shared. All the stories that I had told that ended up not being true. The Holy Spirit just keep pressing upon my heart...if you spread things that are untrue why in the world is anyone going to believe you about Jesus? Yep, it was if I had been punched in the gut!

.

"He went on in this vein for a long time, urging them over and over, 'Get out while you can; get out of this sick and stupid culture!' That day about three thousand took him at his word, were baptized..." Acts 2:40-41 (MSG). I wonder how many people would have believed Peter had he been a gossiper? I wonder if that same 3,000 would have been saved that day? I wonder how many would have walked away thinking "Yeah, he's always telling some sort of untruth"? We must be careful of the words that roll of our lips because we never know who's ears they are falling on!