Loose Lips!

I admit to having a lot of issues and areas of my life in which the Lord is far from done with me yet! I can honestly say that gossip is not one of these areas, though, and is one that really does make me crazy when it happens. I think one reason why it bugs me so much is that it can have such a far-reaching effect.

Proverbs 20:19 (MsgB)
Gossips can't keep secrets,
so never confide in blabbermouths.

Pretty much sums it up, doesn't it? I have learned the hard way that there are very few people who can truly keep a confidence. I don't think there is always maliciousness attached to the blabbering, but there is certainly no fore-thought given to the implications of sharing what has been entrusted to us.

I wonder if those who are prone to share things that are not theirs to share ever considered that there are people associated with their idle words. There are families, lives and reputations attached to their stories. There are wounds and heartaches that have been shared in confidence that are now laid bare for uncaring eyes to see. Many a chaotic situation can be traced to a loose-lipped fool!

Eccles. 5:6 (MsgB)
Don't let your mouth make a total sinner of you.
When called to account, you won't get by with
"Sorry, I didn't mean it."

Ephes. 4:29 (NASB-U)
Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.

It seems that this is a pretty serious issue to the Lord based on these scriptures and many more that refer to our mouths and what we let come out of them! We have a great responsibility to treat as sacred what is shared with us in confidence. We also would be wise to test and see before we rush headlong into sharing something precious with someone we are not sure can be trusted.

Matthew 7:6 (NASB-U)
"Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.

Lord, I desire to be a safe place for people to share their hearts and I pray I will always be found able to keep a confidence. Please help me keep a guard about my mouth and a heart that is always sensitive to the lives that represent what has been shared with me. And, Lord, would you allow me to have wisdom as well in knowing who may be a trustworthy friend with whom I can share my heart, confident that my pearls will not be trampled under foot.