The book of Proverbs talks a lot about corrupt speech, and the effect it has. How many times have we found ourselves venting, sharing our sentiments with one another and it has turned into gossip? We never see how dangerous gossiping can be until we are offended or affected by the words of someone else. Something that I have learned recently is that gossip can cause a strong level of grievance. I know some of you are reading this confused at how gossip can cause grief. I too never thought that deep into it until I experienced it. There's a disturbance of peace that gossip brings and it's almost like a silent eruption. The thing about gossip is that you don't even have to be the one gossiping to be affected by it. There have been times where certain information has been shared with me and it has literally caused me to react emotionally to what has been told.
We all are guilty of gossip; I know I am. I learned that the person taking in the gossip tends to feel it more than the person who is telling the gossip. I have come to this conclusion that you can be in a completely different head space when you're on the opposite end of the stick. Meaning you experience things and react to things differently based on your position in the situation. From someone who has experienced being on both sides, the times where I found myself gossiping I never truly saw the harm in what I was doing because 9 times out of 10 it was coming from a place of truth and honesty. One thing I never thought of was how what I said to someone whether it was intentional or not, I never thought about how what I said could change someone else's views about another person.
We often don't think about how gossip can tarnish someone's character until it's too late. As a matured individual I try my best to refrain from gossiping but also from allowing someone else's offense change my views on other people. I was recently reminded that I need to be careful of what I allow into my ear gates and remember that people are human and there's no perfection in humanity. This is not to say that I judge but we all know how our minds process information. We begin to think, then our thoughts turn into opinions, then our opinions turn into actions and how we interact with others.
The best thing that we can do is learn to shut our mouths. All girl talk isn't good talk and all pillow talk isn't connection. We have to learn what to keep and what to dump from the things that we may hear or see. Practice seeing people's hearts instead of their flesh. It will help us to see people the way God sees them and then we will begin to present more grace and patience with others.
My prayer today is that we think before we speak. I pray that we take what we need and dump what we don't. I pray that we are mindful of the things we share and how we share it. I pray that we will begin to focus on the heart and not the flesh. I pray that our eyes will be opened to the power of our words, thoughts, and actions. I pray for more grace and patience in a world of imperfect people.
With love,
-Yours Truly, Eb