Hey friends! In this blog, I share my struggles with gossip in the past, what gossip is, and tips that can help us to avoid it. I hope you can learn something from this today!
GOD’S DELIVERANCE
One of the sins that God has healed me from since giving my life to Him was being a gossip. As I started to dive into my relationship with God and His Word, He opened my eyes to how dangerous gossiping can be. From that day on, God changed everything. God made me realize that if I am going to talk about people, then I should say positive things or not say anything at all. I’m not perfect though, I still mess up. I understand gossiping is hard but God can deliver you from this sin if you are struggling. He healed me and He can heal you too.
WHAT IS GOSSIPING REALLY?
Gossiping is usually sharing secret information about someone with another person or a group of people. It can also be sharing rumors about someone and/or talking bad about someone behind their back to tear the person down. When we gossip or talk badly about others, we are tearing down God’s creations. Ephesians 4:29 says, “No foul language should come from your mouth, but only what is good for building up someone in need, so it gives grace to those who hear”. This verse reminds me that it is so vital to build others up with our words instead of tearing them down. It also reminds me that our speech should be honoring to the Lord.
TIPS THAT CAN HELP
PRAYER
The number one thing to do is go to God in prayer. Pray and ask the Lord to help give you self-control, pray for whatever you feel the need to pray about. If you are struggling with the sin of gossip, there is grace from God. Go to Him and ask for forgiveness. Repent and ask for Him to help you turn away from this sin and He will help you. 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”. If we go to God confessing our sins with our hearts truly desiring to do better, He will forgive us. If you keep messing up, keep running to God. He is a faithful God and full of grace – which does not mean abusing His grace but to receive it whenever we fall short.
ASKING YOURSELF QUESTIONS
Before talking about someone, there are questions we can practice asking ourselves – would this person be okay with me sharing this information about them? Or, would this person be okay if they heard I said this about them? Those are questions that I want to practice asking myself. Most of the time the answer to these questions is no and if they are a no, it means its best to not say anything.
“A gossip goes around revealing a secret, but a trustworthy person keeps a confidence.” – Proverbs 11:13 ♡
WHO ARE YOU SURROUNDING YOURSELF AROUND?
The people we choose to surround ourselves can influence our lives. A way to avoid gossip is to stay away from people who constantly gossip. Proverbs 20:19 says, “The one who reveals secrets is a constant gossip; avoid someone with a big mouth”. <- That’s a hard one but it’s so true and it’s in God’s Word. If we are constantly surrounding ourselves around people who gossip, it can lead us to gossip. We are not perfect people and we will mess up which is why it’s important we help keep each other accountable. Proverbs 27:17 says, “Iron sharpens iron, and one person sharpens another”. I love this verse because it reminds me that we should be pushing each other towards Jesus.
Something I learned is that if you are caught in a situation with someone or a group of people who are gossiping you can say: “I don’t want to be a part of this conversation because I don’t like to gossip about others”, “Let’s talk about something else”, etc. whatever you feel you need to say. Also, there is a difference between talking about someone and talking about something that happened. My tip for that is to just make sure you don’t end up slandering the person or whatever the case may be.
Friends, if anything I encourage us to continue to spend time with the Lord daily. Spending time with Jesus will help us reflect who He is to those around us. These are some tips that have helped me so I wanted to share them with you all! What’s amazing is how everything God tells us to do points back to His love for us. We are all people created by God and He desires for us to love one another and respect each other. We do not deserve His love but He chose to love us anyway. I pray that we extend the love He has given us to the people around us.
Love Bea ♡
Spreading God's Love 