“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” (Ephesians 4:29)
Our speech matters to God. And as the Bible's Golden Rule says, "Do unto others what you would have them do to you" (Matthew 7:12). What we dish out will come back to us. We can be sure that if we have loose lips, our words will eventually return to haunt. I came across these words of wisdom this week and thought they might be worth repeating. I certainly hope to keep them in mind.
We should run our words, including prayer requests, through these two tests:
1) Is the news "approved" for sharing? It's easy to spread gossip under the guise of being well-meaning, even prefacing the news with "I wish you'd pray for … " But just because my "sharing" is well-meant doesn't mean it's appropriate.
2) Would I want this news shared about me? This is the real kicker. If I were sitting in a room with others blatantly talking about me, would I want what I had told them to be shared? Or would their chatter make me feel as though I'm in my underwear, and everyone's inspecting me?
Gently deflect a gossip-prone conversation before it gets off-track. Our speech really does matter to God [and to us].
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