Reading for Today:
Proverb Chapter 11
Gold Nugget
Verse 13:
"A gossip betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy man keeps a
secret."
Commentary
A while back in a men's bible study I attended, we had a
great discussion concerning the same issue that today's "gold nugget"
deals with. It seems that our culture, with as many downturns as it's taken,
has a few upsides. Concerning men, we have in some demographics, begun to allow
each other into our lives. That is to say, we share more today than maybe we
used to. We have even gone so far as to talk about our "feelings". However,
we still find some difficulty going against the old fashioned approach to
keeping everything bottled up. In our discussion we found that men are more apt
to open up based on the level of trust we have in one another. Today's “gold
nugget” says, "A gossip betrays a
confidence, but a trustworthy man keeps a secret." One of the reason
men are reluctant to open up about issues that they may be having or areas of
weakness that they need strength in, is because of the lack of trust they have
in each other. Despite how much we may like to claim that gossiping is a
woman's weakness; the fact is we all have the ability to fail in this area. I
have found in my experiences that men have just as much fault with gossiping as
women. We just have a different style and delivery. We both want to share
our inside information as well as get the inside information. Our
topics of choice or maybe better said, our targets of choice may differ between
women and men, but the immoral act of gossiping is the same in God's eyes.
Today's "gold nugget" covers two angles of gossiping. Just in case
you might wonder if gossiping is when you reveal a secret someone told you, be
sure that it's more than that. If I know of someone's secret by hearing it or
observing it first hand, revealing it to others is just as much betrayal and
gossip as if the person had revealed it to you in confidence. It is not our
place to spread someone else’s business - period. If we are to ever be able to
open up to one another and benefit from each other's wisdom and accountability,
we must, must, must be able to have confidence in one another's ability to be
trust worthy.
Prayer
Lord, despite what
I might think - I know that my nature may want to hear things that are not my
business out of curiosity. I know that makes me a party to gossip just as much
as a recipient. Forgive me of this immoral behavior and help me to be mindful
of the character that I can reflect when refusing to share or receive gossip.
Amen
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