Gossip Girl.....
Today's Reading: Jeremiah 8:4-9:22
Find the reading plan here.
Okay, so last week we learned how we must guard our hearts.
This week, we go straight to learning to guard our mouths and tongues. Gulp.
As I was praying about this message at the end of last week, the Lord gave me a very clear visual about guarding my tongue. One thing in particular that He showed me was regarding the devastation of gossip.
No matter who you are, how old you are, how holy or unholy you are, you have been exposed to gossip in some form or fashion.
Maybe you were the giver, maybe you were the receiver. Or, if you are like me, you've been on both ends. Not proud.
We have a choice in how we choose to receive gossip when we hear it. And, we will hear it. It's in our churches, schools, homes, work places...it is all around us.
Even when we try to avoid gossip, it still finds a way into our unassuming ears.
I created a very small little three minute message below to show you the visual the Lord gave me regarding gossip last Friday afternoon.
Forgive me in advance for the poor quality of this video. In fact, my precious 12 year old son, Joseph, filmed it for me. I wish I could show y'all the bloopers from the first few we filmed. You would probably spew your morning coffee all over your screen from laughter.
Unfortunately, I had to condense this message from a 6 minute message down to 3 minutes due to my son's Ipad storage space. Lucky you!! ;)
SHINE Girls from Jill Hill on Vimeo.
If you watched the video, you were able to see the effect the gossip had on those poor little dominoes. They didn't know what hit them! Boom! They all fell down as soon as the gossip was spread.
Isn't that what happens when we share gossip? It goes from our mouths and spreads a wildfire of destruction. It kills those in it's ugly path.
Gossip can destroy relationships, marriages, friendships, families...it's just plain deadly.
Again, remember our verse? Our tongues have the power of life and death. Whew. That's big stuff.
When Lem and I were first married, I would tell him all sorts of juicy things that I would hear among my friendship circles. Every single time, and I mean every single time, Lem would say: "This ends with me, Jill. Don't tell another soul."
I would get so mad because it made me feel awful for telling him. Uh, hello conviction.
He let me know from day one that his wife was not going to be a gossip girl. No sirree.
Shoot. What fun was that?
I am so thankful he was wise enough to shut my pink-lip-glossed mouth! What a fool I was and didn't even realize until he pointed it out with his strong, firm and country little accent.
Imagine the pain we could save others if we all chose today to stop gossip in it's ugly tracks. What if we chose to spread life instead of death each day.
Just like those dominoes, we all fall when we don't end it with us.
striving for a tongue that gives life,
jill
Find the reading plan here.
Monday Memory Verse:
"Our tongues have the power of life and death,
and those who love it will eat its fruit"
Proverbs 18:21
Okay, so last week we learned how we must guard our hearts.
This week, we go straight to learning to guard our mouths and tongues. Gulp.
As I was praying about this message at the end of last week, the Lord gave me a very clear visual about guarding my tongue. One thing in particular that He showed me was regarding the devastation of gossip.
No matter who you are, how old you are, how holy or unholy you are, you have been exposed to gossip in some form or fashion.
Maybe you were the giver, maybe you were the receiver. Or, if you are like me, you've been on both ends. Not proud.
We have a choice in how we choose to receive gossip when we hear it. And, we will hear it. It's in our churches, schools, homes, work places...it is all around us.
Even when we try to avoid gossip, it still finds a way into our unassuming ears.
I created a very small little three minute message below to show you the visual the Lord gave me regarding gossip last Friday afternoon.
Forgive me in advance for the poor quality of this video. In fact, my precious 12 year old son, Joseph, filmed it for me. I wish I could show y'all the bloopers from the first few we filmed. You would probably spew your morning coffee all over your screen from laughter.
Unfortunately, I had to condense this message from a 6 minute message down to 3 minutes due to my son's Ipad storage space. Lucky you!! ;)
SHINE Girls from Jill Hill on Vimeo.
If you watched the video, you were able to see the effect the gossip had on those poor little dominoes. They didn't know what hit them! Boom! They all fell down as soon as the gossip was spread.
Isn't that what happens when we share gossip? It goes from our mouths and spreads a wildfire of destruction. It kills those in it's ugly path.
Gossip can destroy relationships, marriages, friendships, families...it's just plain deadly.
Again, remember our verse? Our tongues have the power of life and death. Whew. That's big stuff.
When Lem and I were first married, I would tell him all sorts of juicy things that I would hear among my friendship circles. Every single time, and I mean every single time, Lem would say: "This ends with me, Jill. Don't tell another soul."
I would get so mad because it made me feel awful for telling him. Uh, hello conviction.
He let me know from day one that his wife was not going to be a gossip girl. No sirree.
Shoot. What fun was that?
I am so thankful he was wise enough to shut my pink-lip-glossed mouth! What a fool I was and didn't even realize until he pointed it out with his strong, firm and country little accent.
Imagine the pain we could save others if we all chose today to stop gossip in it's ugly tracks. What if we chose to spread life instead of death each day.
Just like those dominoes, we all fall when we don't end it with us.
striving for a tongue that gives life,
jill
