Bridle Your Tongue

By Crystal Drake

Have you ever sinned at 5:00 a.m.?  Well, I have and it was today; the enemy gets up early!  I was working out with my exercise partner in her garage and all of a sudden I heard malicious gossip spewing out of my mouth like water from a fire hydrant.  In my defense,  I WAS still half asleep.  But nonetheless, there was something in my flesh that felt good as I told my friend something negative about, get this, ANOTHER friend.  Yes, the person I was talking about is someone that I actually respect and admire …a lot.  So why was I so quick to tell another person something negative that I knew about another friend?  What’s wrong with me?  I knew as soon as I started talking that it wasn’t right, that it was against the Word of God, okay – I’ll say it – it was blatant sin.  Yet, I kept right on talking and feeling somewhat smug in my attempt to make my friend think less of this person.  The truth is, I’ve done far worse things myself, and those I wouldn’t be caught dead talking about!

So what in the world is a Christian woman doing repeating gossip?  And get this, it was old gossip – something that happened over 30 years ago!  When we say negative things about other people, I believe it reveals a lack of confidence in us.  If we are truly confident in whom we are and we have the realization that the only good in us comes from Jesus, we would have no desire to point out others’ weaknesses.  When I looked up scriptures on gossip, I found several.  But this one in Proverbs 10:18, hit me between the eyes like a baseball, “Whoever conceals hatred with lying lips and spreads slander is a fool.”  So just when I think I’m making spiritual progress on becoming more like Jesus, I realize I’m actually just a fool!  These reminders of how easily we can slip into sin keep us grounded and dependent on Christ daily.  I can’t do this Christian ‘lifestyle’ on my own.

I wish I could figure out why we like to hear and tell gossip.  Maybe if I knew the reason, I could head it off at the pass like the Lone Ranger and Tonto.  Psychologists say we like to “stay in the loop”, in other words, we might feel left out if we don’t know the details about others.  But sometimes, I think ignorance is bliss when it comes to what we know about others.  The less we know about the details of someone else’s life, the less likely we are to judge them or feel uncomfortable around them, especially if we learned these details through gossip.  We all know that if a person is telling us gossip about someone else, they will most likely gossip about us too.  Some people are soooo good at it – they’re professionals!  I used to have a dear friend that would always try to get confidential information out of me.  She would throw out her best fishing lure and slowly reel me in for the catch!  I’d be in the frying pan, then her plate and going down her throat before I even realized I’d been caught; Roland Martin could have learned a few tricks from her.  I’m telling you, she was good!  I could not keep a secret from her.

But I’m older now, I’m supposed to know better.  I specifically work on not gossiping and I try not to spend time with people who do.  Yet, I was doing it this morning without anyone even casting a fishing rod.  Of course, I asked forgiveness from my friend and more importantly, from my Father.  I’m just not feeling real great about myself right now, I’m not condemning myself, but I am very disappointed in my lack of self-control.  I don’t want to gossip.  I have a few friends who never gossip and I want to be like them.  I’ll do better in the future because of this reminder.  We’re never so mature or spiritual that we can’t be lured into sin.  Keep your guard up at all times.  Know your own weaknesses and be on the lookout.  James 1:26 “If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.”  Do you get the photo now?