My Name Is Gossip

[Rhonda]

My Name Is Gossip

I have no respect for justice.
I aim without killing.
I break hearts and ruin lives.
I am cunning and malicious, and gather strength with age.
The more I am quoted, the more I am believed.
I flourish at every level of society.
My victims are helpless.
They cannot protect themselves against me,
Because I have no face.
To track me down is impossible.
The harder you try, the more elusive I become.
I am nobody's friend.
Once I tarnish a reputation, it is never the same.
I topple governments, wreck marriages and ruin careers. . .
Cause sleepless nights, heartaches and indigestion.
I spawn suspicion and generate grief.
I make innocent people cry in their pillows.
Even my name hisses.
I make headlines and headaches.
Before you repeat a story, ask yourself . . .
'Is it true?
Is it fair?
Is it necessary?'

If not . . .
Shut up!"

[Rhonda]

The tongue of the wise brings healing.
Proverbs 12:18 NIV
Careless words can hurt people. Not only can they influence a person's self-worth, they can actually shape that person's destiny. If you doubt that, consider these two stories:

1) One day in a small country church an altar boy accidentally dropped the communion wine. The officiating priest slapped him and shouted, "Leave, and don't come back!" That boy became General Tito, the brutal communist dictator who ruled the people of Yugoslavia for years.

2) In a big city cathedral another altar boy dropped the communion wine. His bishop turned to him and whispered reassuringly, "It's okay, some day you'll be a great priest." That boy became Archbishop Fulton Sheen, whose sermons touched the hearts of millions on national television.

Your words either build people up or tear them down. Solomon said, "Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing" (Proverbs 12:18 NIV). Here's a truth we don't like to acknowledge; what comes out of our lips reveals what's in our heart, and our "I didn't mean it" doesn't change that or undo the damage.

Eugene Petersen writes: "Every day I put love on the line. There's nothing I am less good at. I am far better in competition than love; far better at responding to my instincts to get ahead, than at figuring out how to love another. I'm schooled and trained in getting my own way. And yet I decide every day to set aside what I do best, and attempt to do what I do very clumsily - open myself to the frustrations and failures of loving, daring to believe that failing in love is better than succeeding in pride."




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