have you ever said words such as: “i’m just telling you this so you will pray for her,” or “i’m really not supposed to share this; just don’t tell anyone else...” truthfully...i’ve been guilty of trying to hide gossip with words like this...but God has really been convicting me lately about my words...or i should say...more appropriately...my thoughts...which is good & bad at the same time...the good is that the thought is in my head...to say something...but i feel God's conviction before i say it...of course...i would prefer not to have the thought in my head at all...
but through all this...God is challenging me to speak godly words...now that this subject of godly words is on my heart...it seems that God is bringing verses and life-lessons about this topic wherever i turn...
as i drove home from dinner with friends the other nite...i realized that God had used my friend that night to deliver one of those life-lessons about godly words...out of all the discussions that night...her words were the ones that stayed with me...her words had pointed me to a deeper understanding of God...so much so that i wrote them in my journal and even shared them with another friend...
over the ten years that i’ve know her...i have learned many lessons about godly words from her...first...i’ve never heard her gossip about another woman...the definition of gossip is “idle talk or rumor...talk of a personal, sensational, or intimate nature...” in titus 2:3 we women are instructed not to be “malicious gossips.” God knew that we women might struggle with our words...my girlfriend has never even hinted at gossiping about another woman...that’s an amazing track record...
the second lesson about godly words from my girlfriend has been the way she talks about her husband and her marriage...we’ve had many honest conversations about our relationship challenges...hers with her marriage...and me...with a boyfriend...once again...she has never gossiped about her husband...even at times when she’s been angry or frustrated with her husband...she doesn’t berate him or share details that would embarrass him...
finally...one of the keys to her godly words is in the amount she speaks...this to me...is very important...and i have seen it demonstrated in her life...time and time again...she is neither overly quiet nor overly talkative...the words she says are wise and point me to God...her example in the amount she speaks teaches me to ask myself: do i really need to say anything in this situation...or do i just want to hear myself talk?
i’m very much a work-in-progress in this area of godly talk...i’ve spent plenty of time lately confessing the sin of my ungodly talk...and i’m thankful for my heavenly Father who doesn’t give up on me but calls me to His standards...i’ll end with two things that are really helping me in this area...i have a friend who is also working on this and we hold each other accountable...and i have a question that i’m trying to use as a guideline for godly talk: are my words going to lead to gossip or to God?
God knows what is in my heart...and He knows that godly talk is something that's challenging to me...above all...i want to honor Him with my words...i want to be a woman who can be trusted by others not to harm them...and i want to be trusted by the Lord...to speak only what honors Him...in this growth process...He is making me aware of situations of people who might tempt me to gossip...He is giving me the strength to avoid those situations...
so the next time you are tempted to speak...ask yourself...
are my words going to lead me to gossip...or to God?
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