THINK

THINK

Psalm 140:3

“They make their tongues as sharp as a serpent’s: the poison of vipers is on their lips.”

The previous devotion, Frustration to Motivation, warns against jumping to conclusions when calling someone out. Because Christians are motivated to halt the evil we see in our fallen world, we want to be the light of Christ. This includes making right what we see is wrong.

One thing that’s wrong is hearing way too much slanderous [SLAN-der-us] gossip. Slanderous means insulting or nasty, hateful speech. Gossip is talk about another person that’s usually just rumor or nosey-busybody nonsense.

Slanderous gossip breaks no less than thirty-one Biblical commandments. One is given in Leviticus 19:16: “Do not go about spreading slander among your people.” Why do people enjoy getting in other people’s business? We still do that today.

“See that girl?” ten year old Brenda asked her classmate, Tiffany.

Tiffany followed where Brenda’s finger pointed. “Yeah. What about Shameka?” Tiffany wondered.

“Well, I heard,” Brenda cupped her hands over Tiffany’s one ear to whisper, “that she is adopted.”

“Is that all?” Tiffany said with a laugh.

“Well, yeah!” Brenda snickered. “I’m so glad that I am not adopted.”

Tiffany ended Brenda’s gossip by saying, “Ask her. Shameka loves it that she’s adopted.”

Brenda is guilty of poor judgment. “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me” is a childhood rhyme that’s designed to protect kids from being hurt by bullies. But victims of spiteful gossip (that’s as deadly as a loaded gun), feel real pain. Words can’t break bones. But they’re pure poison when shot out of careless mouths.

God gave us two gates—our teeth and lips—to guard the tongue from spewing out poison. Using these gates saves us from embarrassment and stops us from hurting others. We can avoid poor judgment by applying the acronym THINK to everything we say.

THINK stands for True, Helpful, Inspiring, Necessary, and Kind. If what you’re about to say doesn’t fit each letter, then lock the gates and shut up.

Take Home Nugget

What if we’re victims of slanderous gossip? 1 Corinthians 4:12b-13a says, “When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly.” That means that we’re to tolerate insults rather than trying to get even. Jesus knows how hard this is. That’s why He said, “But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” (Matthew 5:39).

The hardest thing to do is to shut one’s mouth and walk away from poison. But that’s the right response. The BEST defense is to...

Give the enemy no opportunity to slander.

J.D. Griffith

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