-Intro for the 5
Last week I mentioned that Proverbs are not necessarily promises but trueisms 9 out of 10 times
I also mentioned that these are directives that help us in everyday life.
By and large when proverbs or any other book of the Bible refers to the tongue it is speaking about what we say
Jesus says in Matt 12:34 & 15:18 out of overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.
The wisdom of the book of Proverbs tells us what we should or should not talk about or say.
Over the next two weeks we are talking about “The Tongue”
-End of 5 intro
What we say has amazing power, power to encourage, build up, inspire, communicate truth and express positive things to one another.
But what we say also has amazing power to discourage, tear down, deceive and express negative things to one another
Gossip- idle talk or rumor, esp. about the personal or private affairs of others:
*Why do we gossip? Pro. 18:8 & 26:22
-It makes us feel important, we know something, that is why social media websites are so popular
-In a sick and sinful way it makes us feel good to talk about the misfortunes of others, We think it makes us look better when we make others look worse. But on the contrary it makes you look like a gossip
-Maybe it is jealousy or envy.
-It may be deeper, maybe we are not willing to confront someone who has hurt so we talk about them to other people. It is natural to talk about what is going on in our lives and when we have problems with other people we need to work them out and not confronting and talking with them about the situation almost forces us to talk to others about the problem
*What is the damage of gossip? Pro. 11:13 & 20:19 same verse
-Ruins the trust you have in a them
-Regret- A Greek sage once said I have often regretted my speech, never my silence."
-You can’t always make things right ***A man had told so many malicious untruths about the local rabbi that, overcome by remorse, he begged the rabbi to forgive him. "And, Rabbi, tell me how I can make amends." The rabbi sighed, "Take two pillows, go to the public square and there cut the pillows open. Wave them in the air. Then come back." The man quickly went home, got two pillows and a knife, hurried to the square, cut the pillows open, waved them in the air and hurried back to the rabbi's chambers. "I did just what you said, Rabbi!" "Good." The rabbi smiled. "Now, to realize how much harm is done by gossip, go back to the square..." "And?" "And collect all your feathers."
*The benefit of not gossiping? Pro. 26:20
-Things get worked out and do not escalate.
-You don’t ruin your reputation
So what do you need to do before we open our mouth. The book of James tells us that controlling our speech is one of the biggest challenges.
THINK about what you are going to say
Is it true? Pro. 15:2
Is it helpful? Pro. 12:18
Is it inspiring? Pro. 15:4
Is it necessary? Pro. 21:23
Is it kind? Pro. 31:26
Two traps that we can fall into when applying this to our lives…
-People error on the side of too cautious and don’t say anything about anyone
-People who justify everything and come up with a good reason for their gossip
Bottom line is takes wisdom and prayer to guard your words and say what needs to be said.
No comments:
Post a Comment