Conscious Words!

     This last week I have experienced and seen the damage of false words. We call it gossip, slander, or lying. No matter what we call it; it is sin and it can cause damage to people in all sort of ways. It can ruin reputations, destroy marriages, terminate jobs, ruin friendships, and damage the hearts and souls of people. I have seen this all happen in front of me during the last few days. I have to admit, I cannot tell you that I am totally innocent of gossip. We woman seem to be the most vicious with our tongues when we get all wrapped up in emotions. Our tongue leads us straight down the path of sin. Let’s look at the definition of these words: Gossip is idle talk or rumor, especially about the personal or private affairs of others. It is the sharing of unproven facts and views: To lie is to state something that one knows to be false or that one does not honestly believe to be true with the intention that a person will take it for the truth: Slander is spoken words of communication that makes a claim, expressly stated or implied to be factual, that may give an a negative image. In each case the repeated words are not true. It doesn’t matter if it was intentional or not. It is our responsibility to not repeat words that are not true. Now that doesn’t mean that we repeat everything that is true, but that is teaching for another day. Many times when we are involved in repeating things we have heard, we later find out that it was untrue. We can try to go back and correct it with those we spoke to but we will never be able to totally clean up the damage. The best illustration I have ever heard to describe the damage from the rumor mill is this: If you went outside in the wind and had a great fight with a friend using feathered pillows, soon the pillows would bust open. Feathers would begin to float away in the wind. They would float everywhere. Now you decided that you shouldn’t have had that pillow fight and you are going to go pick up all the feathers. You would never be able to retrieve every feather. They would have spread too far. Words are like those feathers. Once spoken, you can never totally clean up the damage!
     Scripture is very clear that lies and false hood comes from Satan. He is called the father of lies. Lies and falsehoods have nothing to do with the perfect, sinless Jesus Christ. Part of keeping a clean heart is not letting any lies or falsehoods in the door because they do nothing but make a complete mess of everything. We must start avoiding idle talk. We need to develop the discipline of being wise with our words. Take time to pay attention to each word and make sure they are not any form of untruth. Let’s practice conscious words today!

Keep vigilant watch over your heart; that's where life starts. Don't talk out of both sides of your mouth; avoid careless banter, white lies and gossip.

Proverbs 4: 23-24