“All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.” (James 3:7-8)
Point here: Only God, through His infilling power by the Holy Spirit, can accomplish this “in” us. Only He can tame the tongue. Perhaps that is why there are so many tongues that run around untamed. The tongue has not been surrendered to His will. You see, we really must surrender our whole selves to God: our mind, our will, our heart, and yes, our tongue.
“More insidious than an outright lie is the lie or guess wrapped around a truth.” – Dr. David Jeremiah
When gossip spreads, regardless of where that might be, the victim is hurt, betrayed, and ridiculed. As a matter of reference and fact, no matter where in life gossip might spread (work, family, school, community, or church; or all the above), few gossips have the courage or decency to tell the victim what is happening. Most will find out by accident. But the reality is, gossips do not care about who they may be hurting or what damage they may be doing. If they did, there would be a greater effort to set the record straight.
In 12 years of “active” participation and service in the church in a wide array of capacities, I can say with certainty and case records that Christians can be as bad as non-Christians. But I am quickly reminded of another verse that we have been given in James: “If anyone considers himself godly and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his faith is worthless” (1:26).
Gossip hurts. Trust is destroyed. Feelings are trampled. Is this God’s desire?
I remember that old game we did in high school, you know, the one that demonstrates how “facts” and “accounts” change drastically as just on sentence gets passed on, person to person. After just 2-3 points in the chain, at least 1 major factor has changed. By the time it gets to the last few people, it is remarkably different. For me, these types of studies only demonstrate how creative and deceptive gossip is. When left to its own demise, those at the beginning and those at the end will have and believe 2 very different things.
There is no room for gossip in the lives of the authentically spiritual. If we are His followers, we are seekers of the truth. His Word is truth! Gossip is sin, and that is biblical.
Be blessed and be seekers of the truth,
Pastor Porter
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