The tongue of the wise uses knowledge rightly, but the mouth of fools pours forth foolishness.   Proverbs 15:2

It's been some time since the Lord began to deal with me for gossiping about others. Figuring out that gossip is bad is pretty easy. God has commanded us to love one another (John 13:34-35) and talking about people behind their backs obviously breaks that commandment. It can also be easy to recognize the bad habit and to yield to the Holy Spirit when the temptation to "tell all" presents itself.

But the enemy is tricky and so very cunning. He can convince us that gossip is actually loving someone, if we call it "sharing a need" or "wanting to let you know so you can pray!" So here's where the verse above comes in. When someone shares something with us, or we're aware of a situation, we need to learn how to use that knowledge RIGHTLY. A good general rule of thumb is to NOT SHARE information with anyone else unless someone has given you permission.

I'm not saying I've now arrived at the highest level of non-gossip there is to achieve, but bless God, I'm looking forward to what He's going to show me next while I keep walking out what He's already shown me. DO NOT let fear of slipping up and blabbing something keep you from speaking at all. Yield to the Holy Spirit, and He'll let you know if what you are about to say is appropriate.

Are you familiar with Psalm 141:3? It says: "Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips." The other night my daughter reminded me of something I said to her (I don't remember saying it!). She said that I told her to picture a tiny guard walking back and forth across her bottom lip, and every time something was about to come out of her mouth, the guard had to stop and check it. I laughed, but it's such a good example of thinking before we speak and how important it is. It can keep us out of so many messes!

Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. 2 Corinthians 2:14