Choose to Bless, Not to Gossip
By Rick Warren

“Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends.” (Proverbs 17:9 NLT)

All of us have crazy-makers in our lives. They’re the people who make us want to call our best friends, and say, “You won’t believe what they just did!”

Crazy-makers make you want to spread the word about their craziness—to hear your friends say, “Wow, they are crazy!” That affirmation from your friends can make you feel good. But spreading the word is gossip—and it’s unloving.

The Bible says to forgive even your enemies. Proverbs 17:9 says, “Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends” (NLT).

What is gossip? It’s sharing information with somebody who is not part of the problem or the solution. Gossip, in its essence, is a form of retaliation. You talk about someone behind their back rather than going to that person directly.

In the short term, gossip may make you feel better—but it actually lets the crazy-maker win. It allows that person to control your conversations and emotions. Suddenly you’re spending your time talking about the crazy-maker instead of all the positive things in your life. When you choose to gossip, the crazy-maker wins.

Gossip is incredibly destructive too. It destroys churches, families, and businesses. It separates close friends. It can even destroy your life.

But you don’t have to let it. You have the choice not to gossip—and to instead repay the wrong done to you with a blessing.

The Bible says in 1 Peter 3:9, “Do not do wrong to repay a wrong, and do not insult to repay an insult. But repay with a blessing, because you yourselves were called to do this so that you might receive a blessing” (NCV).

You can gossip and miss out on God’s blessing.

Or you can choose to have positive conversations and use words that lift others up. In doing so, you will receive God’s blessing on your life.

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This devotional © 2018 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

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