16 Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. 17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 18 Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
Proverbs 17:9
9 He who conceals a transgression seeks love,
But he who repeats a matter separates intimate friends.
Okay, so we’ve all done this one. Not a one of us is clean from the sin of gossip. It can be rationalized, compromised, explained away and even called prayer, but at its core…it’s just plain old harmful gossip. Why am I talking on this one today? I don’t know, ask God, this is the one He pointed out to me as I dwelt in His Word this morning,and so this is the one I will share about.
Just like a story being passed down by word of mouth gets more and more distorted each time it is shared, gossip grows, like a weed, whose roots run deep. One of the best verses I have ever found on gossip is found in, of all books, Ecclesiastes:7 20 Indeed, there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins. 21 Also, do not take seriously all words which are spoken, so that you will not hear your servant cursing you. 22 For you also have realized that you likewise have many times cursed others.”
Okay, so why do we take seriously all words which are spoken, then? And why do we pass them on to others? God tells us that blessing and cursing should not spring forth from the same mouth (James 3). Gossip is akin to lying, for none of us know the whole truth about anything, and so when we speak forth judgments about another persons situation, character, etc. we are basically speaking half truths,, we are lying. And our common enemy, satan, is the father of those lies. We are to consider how to spur one another on to love and good deeds. We are to
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