Gossip

Yesterday, in the morning at church, George continued teaching from James. This week's verses focused on faith. George urged them to pray with faith. Often times we don't receive because we don't believe. He also told them about the story of the prophets of bael verses Elijah in 1 Kings 18. These prophets were doing a bunch of rituals and nothing happened. Elijah eventually taunted them and said "Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened." Their prayers weren't answered because they prayed to a god that didn't exist. So George was encouraging them to pray to the Lord of Heaven and Earth. The Alpha and the Omega... who is all powerful and capable of anything. The one who doesn't sleep or go away.

After the service, people were really touched and many came forward for prayer. Some because of physical pain or problems they faced and others because they wanted their faith to increase. As I prayed for some of them, I felt my faith increase as I brought their requests before the Lord, knowing He can do anything and He loves us so much.

In the afternoon, George continued the discussion with the discipleship class. Sometimes we have faith and don't receive what we are asking for. God doesn't always give us what we ask for. Does that mean He doesn't love us or we did something wrong? No. We have to accept that He knows best and has a reason for everything. Sometimes we can look back at our lives and say, "now I know why God didn't let that happen. I am so glad He is in control, not me." For example, think of the people we wished would have asked us out on a date, someone we were so sure was "the one." God had someone else in mind and we thank him for letting that prayer go by unanswered.

After the discipleship class finished, it was my turn with the ladies. This week's topic: gossip. Gossip is a problem everywhere. All cultures, every country...women like to talk! We can talk with each other for hours and hours. I could talk with my best friend on the phone for four hours. If someone asked me what we talked about, I would say, nothing. It was nothing and everything.

There is nothing wrong with talking, but we have to be careful we don't gossip. Men can gossip too, but I think it's more of a struggle for women. So, we talked about what is gossip, why is it bad, why do we like to gossip and then we looked at what the Bible says about it. We came to the conclusion that it can be very destructive and hurtful. It can ruin friendships, churches, ministries, workplaces and families. All the ladies have been the victim of it and experienced the pain from it, me included. So... how do we stop?

1. Try to avoid hanging out frequently with someone who is a known gossip
2. If you are not part of the problem or the solution, stay out of it.
3. If you are the victim of gossip, confront the person who is talking about you.
4. If you have fallen into the habit of gossiping, ask God to change your heart.
5. If someone starts to gossip, change the subject.

It's easier said than done. We love hear and talk about other people. BUT, we all agreed it can be so bad (No wonder the Bible says not to do it!), so we must do our part to stop it. As the ladies shared their hearts, I saw many of them were still wounded from the affects of gossip. They brought up questions like "what do we do if someone keeps gossiping about me and won't stop?" That made me realize what next week's topic should be: forgiveness. Pray that God will give me the words to say to them to help them be able to forgive those who have hurt them. I struggle with forgiveness too, but have learned that holding grudges hurts me more in the end than letting it go. Should be a good class next week.