Gossip, just don't do it!

 

Gossip

 

When you gossip or speak negatively of another, when you tell on someone with the intent of bringing pain into their lives, which is revenge. When we were children we called that being a tattletale and we told our children that nobody liked a tattletale.

 

 Heavenly Father has asked us to pray for those you bring or cause us pain.

 

We are also called to forgive them.

 

It is tempting to try to bring someone down a peg or two by gossiping about them, by revealing their bad points in order for others to not see them in quite the same light but this is just flat out wrong.

 

You only hurt yourself when you gossip about others.

 

People have less trust and less respect for people who share the secrets of other people, especially negative secrets. What joy is found in trying to get someone else in trouble? It doesn’t win you any friends, especially if they find out you were the one to share the information. Then they will have a great dislike for you, they will never trust you again and when others find out you were the one to share that information, they will never trust you again as well. As our mothers told us, if you don’t have something nice to say don’t say anything at all. If you have a problem with someone, confront them with love and forgiveness in your heart. This will lead to the person as well as others having a great deal of trust and respect for you. Nothing good ever came out of attempting to seek revenge on another person. In fact it is a sin to seek revenge because the Lord clearly has said that vengeance is mine. It may seem pleasurable at the time to share some juicy gossip or tell on someone knowing they will get in trouble. The problem is this pleasure is only fleeting and this information will only cause you more problems in the future.

 

Don’t try to be sly about giving up information and don’t give it up just because you know you won’t be caught being the one to talk.

 

Just remember the Lord knows the intent of our hearts.

 

I am only referring to situations that are within the law, we must obey the laws of the land and if we are asked by authorities to talk about someone or something we have knowledge of, we must always be honest and tell the truth. I am referring to situations that involve talking or gossiping about another’s hair style, the way they look, act, an incident that may have happened to them, an act of indiscretion, etc. This is what we should be careful gossiping about, not a situation which involves a legal matter, and then we have a responsibility to tell the truth when questioned by legal authorities. This is not gossip, this is being honest. Should we keep secrets when asked to by our friends? Yes. What about if they are secrets about other people? That depends. I would say to those who want to share information about other people that you are not comfortable hearing the information unless this person is willing to share the information in front of the person they are talking about. Then you know it is safe to listen. If they are unwilling to talk about another person in front of them, then the information they want to share is probably not worth hearing. Don't talk behind other peoples back and don’t listen to others who want to talk about other people behind their back. This is considered gossip as well and is not tolerated by the Lord; in fact it is a sin. If you talk about other people only share positive things, things that would build them up, not bring them down. Thank you for this bit of inspiration, I love you Lord. Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ. I commit to building people up not tearing then down. I will let you be the one to judge and to take revenge. Thank you for this wonderful day. Amen.