From The Pastor’s Pen – By Brian Horrobin
Legendary UCLA men’s basketball coach, John Wooden, once said, “You cannot be judged by what others say about you, but you can by what you say about others.”
Ooooh, I am going let that one burn a little bit!
I think the late coach was talking about a nasty little subject known as gossip.
The dictionary defines gossip as “casual or unconstrained conversation or reports about other people, typically involving details that are not confirmed as being true.”
The Bible puts it this way in Proverbs 18:8: “The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels; they go down into the inner parts of the body.”
You don’t have a reputation amongst your peers or working companions as a gossip, do you?
Exactly what are you saying about others that might be giving you the reputation of being a gossip?
You can control this, and it starts with your thinking.
Consider the wise advice of Philippians 4:8: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”
Hmmm, there is no mention there in that list of anything remotely resembling our definition of gossip.
Yes, I realize that a story based on gossip can seem much more interesting than the real thing but that’s not grounds for embellishing the facts and adding details that are not part of the actual event.
Gossip hurts people and ruins reputations.
So, if you can’t tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, then there’s an effective alternative — shut yer pie hole!
