“Do not speak against one another, brethren. He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of it.” – James 4:11
One of the greatest tools of destruction that Satan uses in the midst of God’s people is gossip. If you have ever experienced what it is like to hear something someone else said about you that was not true, or misconstrued, then you know that feeling you get in the pit of your stomach. That feeling can then turn into bitterness toward that person and leads to further destruction. On the other hand, if you have been the one involved in gossip, one of the greatest ways to stop it before it starts is to ask yourself or the other person, “Would we say this if the person we are talking about was standing here with us?”. If the answer is no, then you have your answer as to whether or not you should proceed in the conversation. When you think about how Jesus speaks about all of those He loves, He never speaks against the ones He loves. And because He now lives in you and I, should not the way He spoke transform the way we speak?
Is there someone who comes to mind that you may have spoken against? If so, take a moment to ask God’s forgiveness and then ask Him if there is a way for you to reconcile that relationship.
