Encourage One Another

A gossip betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy person keeps a secret. (Proverbs 11:13 NIV)

Gossip is a way of life it seems.  You read all about the lives of famous people in different magazines.  When standing at the checkout stand at the grocery store you get to read the front page of the gossip magazines.  It is right there in front of your face, very hard to avoid.  They give you intimate information on people in the public eye.  I doubt the information they display is completely accurate.  The information you pass along to others may be true but would that person really want others to know their intimate details?  When someone confides in me I try to not repeat that information even if they didn’t ask me not to tell anyone.  That was not always the case with me.  I had a problem with gossip.  Gossip always gets back to the person that was gossiped about.  Know what cured me?  Several times I was talking to someone at work about another co-worker when that co-worker showed up behind me and heard everything.  God had to do that several times to me before I got the message.

We can talk about others if we say things that lift them up.  We need to be encouragers not destroyers of a person’s reputation.  Remember the saying “If you can’t say anything nice then don’t say anything”?  It is good advice!

Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you. (2 Corinthians 13:11 NIV)

–Diane Levy