It’ll Come Full Circle
Sunday's Devotion (4-13-08)
"Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out: so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth. As coals are to burning coals, and wood to fire; so is a contentious man to kindle strife. The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly." Proverbs 26:20-22 (KJV)
Talebearers throw gasoline in a fire... If you associate with a talebearer or if you are a talebearer, expect a lot of problems. You could say something to a talebearer today, and then next week go talk to your best friend and it turns out they're mad at you... You don't know why, but you'll find out it had something to do with something the talebearer (or gossiper) told them. In other words you could lose a friend because of a gossiper. The thing with talebearers/gossipers is that they'll say that you said something you never said, or they'll exaggerate the situation. I'll tell you one thing, I don't need these kinds of people in my life. I have enough problems of my own, I don't need someone else creating more for me. I just don't need it, and I won't have it. God doesn't want us to put up with it either. He doesn't want us to have talebearers/gossipers for friends, and more importantly He doesn't want us to be one of them.
It's easy to find ourselves gossiping, and the worse part is we'll do it against people we're close to. If our closest friends found out some of the things that some of us say, they probably wouldn't want to be our friends. A good philosophy is if you wouldn't say it to their face, don't say it behind their backs! We shouldn't talk about people behind their backs, if we have something to say we should say it to their face. They're more likely to get over it and move on if you say it to their face instead of behind their backs. Also, something that has helped me is that when I catch myself talking behind someone's back I'll pray for them, and ask for forgiveness for myself. But if there's something that bothers us about someone we should pray for them... If we have the time to gossip about them then we certainly have the time to pray for them. Value your friends, family, and just people in general. Don't talk badly about people behind their backs: You know you wouldn't like it, so don't do it to others! It goes along with "Do unto others as you would have done unto you." If you talk behind someone's back then it's going to come full circle, and someone is going to be talking behind your back. GUARANTEED!
Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this message and for all things. Please forgive us of all our sins as we forgive all those who've sinned against us. Please help us to not be gossipers or talebearers, and help us not to associate with people who are these things. In Jesus name. A-men!
God bless!