Killing with words: Bitter sting of gossip - Greg Laurie -
http://www.wnd.com/2015/06/killing-with-words-bitter-sting-of-gossip/ Pastor Greg Laurie warns against embracing 'tabloid mentality' of rumor, innuendo
We live in a time of the tabloid mentality. I have never seen a society so obsessed with gossip, innuendo and rumor. It seems as though this mindset is snowballing in our culture, and our standards are getting lower and lower. Just when you think you've seen and heard it all, you see something worse.
Tragically, this tabloid mentality has also entered the news, where we see things that have nothing to do with current events but instead have a gossipy feel. People want to know the inside scoop. They want to hear the dirt on a person. And there is something in our nature that wants to know more and more.
If someone has been charged with a crime, he or she already has been tried and convicted in the media before ever having the opportunity to go into an actual court of law.
It has been said that good news travels fast. But I would add that bad news travels even faster. As Mark Twain said, "A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes." There is something about a falsehood, something about a lie, that spreads like wildfire.
At one time or another, we all have felt the bitter sting of gossip in our lives. Maybe someone told a lie or passed on a story about you that simply wasn't true. In fact, it became more exaggerated with the telling.
Gossip has been defined as the art of confessing other people's sins. There are people we know like that. If you really want to get a message out, all you have to do is go to that person and say, "Whatever you do, don't tell anyone." And by the next day, everyone will know about it.
God doesn't take kindly to people who do this. In fact, one of the things the Bible says that God hates is "a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community" (Proverbs 16:19, NIV).
The psalmist David lamented over those who had gossiped about him and lied about his character. Obviously it was a source of great pain to him. He wrote, "Rescue me, Lord, from evildoers; protect me from the violent, who devise evil plans in their hearts and stir up war every day. They make their tongues as sharp as a serpent's; the poison of vipers is on their lips" (Psalm 140:1-3, NIV).
The average person spends at least one-fifth of his or her life talking. That is the average person - I am sure that some people far exceed that.
Now, what if all of our words were written down for a year? What would we find on those pages? What kind of content would be in them? A good rule of thumb is to apply the acronym THINK to what we say: Is it true? Is it helpful? Is it inspiring? Is it necessary? Is it kind?
In a sense, our tongues, or the words that we speak, are the table of contents for our lives. What we say gives away who or what we really are. Jesus said, "For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. ... For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned" (Matthew 12:34-35, 37, NIV).
I heard a story about an elderly grandfather who happened to be very wealthy. He was losing his hearing, so he reluctantly got fitted for hearing aids. Two weeks later, his audiologist checked in with him.
"Well, your relatives must be happy that you can hear so much better."
The man chuckled and said, "Well actually, I haven't told them yet. I've just been sitting around, listening. And you know what? I've changed my will twice."
James tells us that "everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry" (James 1:19, NIV). It also tells us that the tongue is "a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one's life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell" (James 3:6, NIV). If we're not careful, we can find ourselves fanning the flames of a rumor. So much damage can be caused by our words. If only we would think first and speak later. If only we would contemplate how our words might affect someone else.
The Bible says that love believes the best - not the worst - of every person. That is why we must be very careful, because many times we will believe a rumor as gospel. Then, to make matters worse, we begin to spread an unsubstantiated rumor without checking the facts. As a result, we find ourselves causing divisions.
Many people who would never consider committing murder are guilty of character assassination and backbiting. Don't be someone who spreads rumors. Don't be someone who gossips. It is wrong, and it is displeasing to God.
Our words can also chart the course or our lives. A single word or phrase of a judge can pardon or condemn us. Saying "I do" means marriage for life. (Or at least it should.) Saying "I won't" to drugs or alcohol or to premarital or extramarital sex can cause our lives to be free from much misery and the outcome of sin. Saying "I will" to the offer of forgiveness from Jesus Christ can literally change your eternal destiny.
May God help us guard our words, and may we THINK before we speak.
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