I think gossip is one of those things that just kind of gets laughed about and brushed under the rug as no big deal.  I’m here to tell you it IS a big deal.

There is a situation that I am involved in right now that is making me very uncomfortable and it’s mostly because of gossip.  I don’t like gossip.  I’m not going to go so far as to say I’ve never done it because I think it’s one of those things like lying – we don’t want to do it, we know it’s wrong, but sometimes we catch ourselves doing it.  It’s frustrating!

But anyway, gossip can turn someone’s opinion of another person into a completely different direction if you’re not careful.  And the old adage is true – there ARE two sides to every story.  I know a lot of us, including me, like to think our side is the “right” side and that we are always right but unfortunately that’s not true.  We ARE wrong sometimes, we DO get mistaken ideas about people, we DO misread situations.  It’s not fair to tell other people something negative about someone because you aren’t happy with them at the time or you think something happened a different way.

I had a situation yesterday where three or four different people were talked about in a totally negative way – things were said that totally turned people’s opinion of these people in a different direction.  They now may think they are “bad” people or people that they shouldn’t be around.  It’s ridiculous!  I know these people and they AREN’T bad people!  I also (kind of) know both sides of a couple of the stories and I know that the facts are not what are being shared.  I really think things have been blown out of proportion and only one side of the story has been told but conclusions have immediately been drawn and now I’m afraid these people have a “bad” reputation.

It just makes me so sad.  And the hard part is, I really don’t see a solution to the problem.  I don’t see a way to fix it.  It’s something I’ve been praying about for quite a while and will continue to do so but it’s so hard.  I just pray that God moves in these people’s hearts and shows them that what they are doing is wrong.  Will you pray with me?  I know you don’t know the people or the situation but I would sure appreciate a quick little prayer even as you read this!!

The moral of the story…think before you speak.  Just like mommas always say, if you don’t have something nice to say don’t say anything.