Something Special Sunday

I thought since it is Sunday I would start a bible study for my Sunday blogs. Something to talk about ,meditate on and study through out the week and if need be weeks beyond. I thought I would base them on things I like to study on and that I have seen that a lot of women deal with.  Being a Pastor's wife has given me in site into that in situations I am not alone and secondly there are reasons somethings are frequently repeated to women in the bible. I wanted to cover and study gossip. We as women have a hard time with this. We naturally want to talk over everything. Things that are happening in our lives, things we think, and things we have heard. Plus we all know those that live to stir up issues with gossip and how we avoid those people all together or are very careful of what we say to them when we can not avoid them. When we get a group of 2 or more of us  then we start to feed off of each other and the gossip gets worse. Being Christians we are called to a higher standard, but what is that standard? What actually constitutes as gossip? How can we avoid it? What can happen by taking part in gossip?

Gossip is slander, it is craftiness, malicious, judgmental and even at times just flat out lies.  We often fall into it when we become idle and start looking from our own homes into others, but not always. Sometimes troubles in our lives can lead into gossip about others and what goes on in their lives. How?
How often do you have problems with another person and call to ask for prayer or counsel but in doing so you must now involve them in the issue and tell them all the juicy "going ons" of the situation. DO you continue to call to tell them the latest? Then my dears you are gossiping, no worries even I have fallen into that trap. Here's the thing our bible teaches us we should ask elders in our church to pray for us, also you don't have to tell the story if you are asking for prayer because the bible also teaches GOD does know what we can not say and what we need the prayer for. If you are seeking counsel  these are the questions you need to ask yourself. First is the counsel for you?  Secondly is it wise counsel ( because honestly we have friends who are mature in their faith and those we know are just babies.) Would you go to a person divorced 4.5.6 times for marital advice or the person married for many successful years? Thirdly did you seek out  an elder of your church first or one of your friends? We have to think about our true motives and not the lies we tell ourselves and others. The bible tells us to seek counsel but to seek WISE counsel.
Now if you are on the receiving end of this you should be asking is this really for prayer, counsel or reconciliation (CPR) or are they calling to tell you the latest dish ( gripe)? Have I already given them wise counsel and they are continuing to call about the same situation? Did I pray with them or did we only discuss their issue? If they are continuing then you need to tell them you will pray for the situation until things are better but that to discuss it further would be gossip. You should call out those that are gossips.We are shown examples of this in the bible many times.
We can avoid gossiping by only seeking CPR with others. If we do start  to carry on and lead ourselves in to gossip we should confess our sins to our fellow sisters and brothers in Christ as we are taught in the bible. We are called to bridle our tongues, this is hard for us as women but we are called to do it and strive for it.  Also if you are calling another friend over concern for someone else here are some questions you should ask yourself. First did they ask you to and secondly knowing GOD knows what is needed do you really need to say who it is for or why it is needed? In most prayer chain cases all you really need to do is tell the request not discuss  it  or the person needing the prayer( which is nearly impossible for us women, which are usually the ones on the prayer chain and this is why I think there should not be prayer chains but people sent to elders or  anonymous prayer boards). If you are calling over true concern did you go to that  brother or sister first and then to an elder or did you just start spouting off your concerns to your friend. That is gossiping and you are being a busy body. Did you truly seek ways to help the person you are concerned about? Are you jumping to judgement? Think these things over before you start and it will help you avoid the issue of gossip and judgement. Oh here's a side note; if the only thing you have to talk about all the time is an issue or problem with another then it is time to look at yourself first and secondly your friends will certainly start to see you as a busy body or a drama queen always crying for help. Either way they will start to not trust you and will start to avoid you.
Gossip it's self was something GOD allowed sinners with wicked hearts to fall into and stay in.  Which when kept in mind can help to deter you from walking right off the path into it. I study these things often because I am just like you and fall off the path. I know how easy it is to have "gripe" sessions with your friends and how good you can feel but we must ask our selves is that true peace first and secondly did we just put an unneeded burden on our friends.
Some Scriptures I Studied for this study are  Proverbs 31,8:13-1411:13.16:28,26:26,18:8,26:22 Romans 1:29,8:26,1tim 5:13,3 John 1:1-10 (interesting note gossip here in the Greek version meant gossip or talking nonsense) 1 Jhn.3:18,Psalm 15:2-3,Job 15:5,1Peter3;10,James 1:26,3,5:14,5:16