Have you ever had a conversation when you were talking about others? Maybe their faults or things they did to hurt you. 10/10 times if i have any such conversation I always end up feeling drained. I learned early that it is one of the things that put out your fire as a believer.
Consider this scripture…
“If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.”
James 1:26 KJV
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This subject seems more serious than we may like to admit. It says His whole religion is in vain! A good woman shared her experience and i’d like to share it with you.
“Once I heard my mother on the phone gossiping about another friend’s “issues.” I busted her and said, “Mom, You are a Christian!” She said, “Baby, we don’t have issues. We have prayer requests. I just needed to know how to pray.”
When I started taking my faith seriously, the number one thing God convicted me of was my mouth. I have always been an entertaining storyteller. But just because it’s funny doesn’t mean I should share it.
I had a bad habit of calling my closest friends when I felt wronged or slighted, all in the name of “I need advice.” I wasn’t being malicious. My gossip habit stemmed from a deep-seated need to be told I’m right.
So now that I’m supposedly a mature Christian, I try to tell Jesus my drama, but I usually end up muttering, “You saw that, right? Are You going to deal with them since You won’t let me?”
I still struggle when I truly want advice on how to handle my frustration. So I came up with a plan. When tempted to gossip, I call a friend and tell only the facts, no names. By not revealing anyone’s identity, I’m able to discuss calmly what happened without feeling guilty. And in the end it’s usually my stuff that’s upsetting me in the first place.
In today’s social media, internet-trolling, mean-spirited world, gossip is a blood sport, and I don’t want to be an all-star player. Praying doesn’t make it okay to gossip. So the test I give myself is to ask, “Could Jesus be in on this conversation and say it’s okay?”
We don’t have to keep all our feelings inside when we’re hurt and struggling, but we do need to be strategic about who we share them with and how. “
And thats her experience! How do you deal with the temptation to gossip or slight others behind their backs? Personally speaking, I like to have conversations with the person about what it is I want to talk about so that I don’t have to talk to an outsider. I find that not talking to the person does not get the problem solved and I would rather solve the problem than just talk about it.
How have you dealt with this in the past… share your thoughts in the comments.
Xo,
Zoe🌟