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Murder by Mouth

by Jerry Ousley  
8/05/2011 / Christian Living


There was a Catholic priest, a Baptist minister and a Pentecostal preacher who were good friends and all decided one sunny afternoon to go fishing. They rode together in the Pentecostal preacher's station wagon, arrived at the lake, launched their fishing boat and loaded their tackle. Everything was calm, serene and all in all a very pleasant day. There was a long period of silence when the priest spoke up, "Brothers, the Bible tells us that confession is good for the soul and I've been thinking; since you both are such good friends there's something I need to confess to you. I've got a problem hitting the communion wine. I know that I shouldn't but each Sunday after Mass I just can't seem to help myself."

Another period of silence followed after which the Baptist minister spoke: "Well brother, I guess none of us are perfect and I suppose I need to confess my faults too. Seeing we are such good friends and I know I can trust you I want to confess that I've picked up the bad habit of smoking over the years. I've tried to quit and I don't smoke a lot but several times a day I've got to disappear and have one."

After another period of reflection the Pentecostal preacher reeled in his line, grabbed the oars and began rowing for all he was worth. Wondering what was going on the other two looked at each other and then at their friend. The Baptist minister asked, "Brother, what's the matter?" To which he replied, "Brothers I've got to confess my sin too. I've got a bad habit of gossiping and I just remembered that I left my cell phone in the car!"

We are told in Proverbs 26:22 that "The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly." Did you know that gossip can be a murder weapon? That's right; we can spiritually murder a brother or sister by what we tell about them. Just what is gossip? It is either spreading false tales about someone else, or telling truths out of turn. We must guard what we hear and re-tell about others because it may not be the truth. We certainly don't want to be guilty of helping to promote lies about our brothers and sisters. And we also need to use the wisdom of God in telling someone else a truth about a brother or sister. Just because it is the truth doesn't mean that the world needs to know about it. How can we help them if we are in the process of murdering them by mouth?

The Jewish leaders tried to ruin the ministry of Jesus in this manner. They said that He was a glutton and a wino, that He cast out demons using the very power of the devil, and that He perverted the nation and was a tax evader. The people also tried to destroy the early Church on the Day of Pentecost by accusing them of being drunk when the Holy Spirit fell upon them. More than once Paul was accused of being the ringleader of seditions.

We might think of gossip as a "little sin." After all, we're just repeating what we've been told. It isn't like we're intentionally telling a lie on someone else. When we think that way we aren't realizing the damage we can do to others. Let's be reminded that gossip, also known in the Bible as "whispering," "backbiting," and being a "busybody" is associated with some very harsh and cruel sins. Just take a look at Romans 1:29, 2 Corinthians 12:20 and 1 Peter 4:15.

We must be careful not to destroy others with gossip. The tongue is very hard to control and can be full of poison as we are told in James 3:8. That steaming brew can and will destroy other people. We must learn when to speak up and when we should shove our tongue as deep in our mouth as we can get it so we won't be guilty of this deadly sin.

What should we do when we discover a bad truth about someone else? Instead of telling it we should first pray on behalf of that individual. Then if it is something that must be confronted don't confront it with other people but go directly to the individual and let them know that you are concerned and that you want to help. You may be amazed at how open that person will be once they know that you aren't going to take an ad out in the paper or do a commercial about it. When we seek the Lord in these situations and are slow to open our mouth then we can stop and prevent murder by mouth.

Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ?Soul Challenge?, ?Soul Journey?, ?Ordeal?, ?The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ?The Shoe Tree.? Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge.

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