30 DAYS TO TAMING YOUR TONGUE DAY 10

Day 10   The Gossiping Tongue

Do you sometimes engage in idle and often malicious talk about the potential affairs of another? Gossip can be such a delectable “choice morsel” that many find it impossible to resist. Probably everyone has partaken in gossip, either as a bearer or a hearer, at one time or another.

Do you know that gossiping can lower your sense of self-worth? How you ask? When you gossip, you tend to realize you are not walking in integrity. We feel best about ourselves when we do things that are pleasing to God.

So how do we stop gossiping? Catch yourself BEFORE you indulge! Ask yourself why you are being a bearer of such news. Is this the only way you know to establish camaraderie with others? Do you need to be the center of attention? Does it make you feel superior to know something negative about somebody that the hearer doesn’t know? Are you envious of your subjects accomplishments? Why are you willing to use the temple of God as a “trash receptacle” by being a receiver of gossip? What do you plan to do with the information a gossip shares with you? Are you bored with your life and need more meaningful activities?

If you are serious about eliminating gossip from your life, you must start an all-out campaign against it. Let everyone know you will not be a bearer or a hearer of “choice morsels” about anyone. Declare your environment, whether at work, home or play, to be gossip-free zone.

Refuse to engage in gossip may result in fewer visitors and phone calls, however your impact will be far-reaching. Take a TONGUE FAST!

READINGS AND REFLECTIONS

PROVERBS 11:13   ECCLESIASTES 7:21      PROVERBS 29:12

1)               Recall the last time you gossiped about someone. Did you initiate the conversation or did you allow yourself be drawn in at someone else’s prompting?

2)              Recall a secret or something confidential that someone shared with you about another person. How did you feel about being told someone’s private information? Did you share it with anyone else-even under the guise of a prayer request?

3)              Is there someone at work, church or in your family you have decided you would never trust with confidential information?