1 Timothy 3:11 "Women must likewise be dignified,
not malicious gossips, but temperate, faithful in all
things"
Titus 2:3 "Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips"
Last time, we looked at the first portion of these scriptures on being dignified and reverent. This week we are going to proceed into the next part ; "not being malicious gossips." I dont know about you, but when I started looking at these scriptures I would have rather skipped over that part! If we are honest with ourselves, we know that gossip is a major problem for women. We seem to be hardwired to talk. We say an average of three times more words per day than a man. But what do we talk about? Frankly, in the midst of our conversations, and our great need to talk, the subject other people come up. And sometimes, it's not for the right reasons. Is it bad to have conversations about other people? No. Its impossible. In life, we have to talk about other people because other people encompass a big part of our life. They are our families, friends, coworkers, neighbors, etc. We have relationships therefore we talk to people and of people. It's when we start talking about these people in a negative sense this is a problem.
Definition of the word malicious : intending to do harm or hateful.
Synonyms for malicous; malignant, vicious, spiteful, cussed, jealous, mean, mischievous, resentful, spiteful.
I don't know if that hit you in the same way as it did me, but I especially had to pause at the synonym malignant. If someone is diagnosed with a malignant tumor - that's a very scary diagnosis. And to think that our words could be malignant gossip? Which confirms the scriptures that says our tongue is sharper than any two edged sword, that we can murder with our tongue, and that we alone can not control our tongue.
Do you ever have feelings for someone that are spiteful? Do you ever just feel mean? Do you ever curse someone? Do you have feelings of resentment? The moment that you utter words regarding these just mentioned, you are guilty of malicious gossip.
God has entrusted our ability to think, speak, and have emotions for a reason. Unfortunatly, with our 'old sin nature' it can easily get the best of us. The flesh gets carried away and we lose control of our tongue, which dishonors God. We have to allow the Holy Spirit to take over and be that Spirit controlled woman God wants us to be, by stopping these feelings from the start. Our feelings are indicators of the condition of our heart and what flows out of our mouths reveals our condition.
Maybe you need a few minutes of knee time with God today, ask Him to reveal what is in your heart causing these feelings before they evolve and erupt into malicous gossip.
~ Submitted by Jeni Morelock
