1 - Introduction - Living like a real Christian Cleansing Coal week 1 | Page 7

The last form of forbidden speech is GOSSIP. Gossip is a euphemised version of slander
where the intention is to make somebody else look bad probably with the idea to elevate
ourselves. The reason that gossip is so popular in so many circles in life is that many
perceive it to be a minor offence. After all, everyone is doing it and it just seems to happen
so naturally.
The second reason that we tend to fall into the trap of gossip is that we like it! Proverbs 18 v
8 says that the words of gossip are like“choice morsels” (a juicy bit). The problem with these
choice morsels is that it turns bitter in one’s stomach and can lead to terrible feelings of
guilt because you know that what you have said is either not true, or is based upon a half
truth. Every time, therefore that you choose to participate in gossip, you poison your own
system and psychologically, spiritually and emotionally you begin to die.
It was gossip (albeit based upon fact) that had hurt so badly the woman that Jesus met in
John 4. It was the wicked things that people had said about her that had caused her to come
to the well alone where she was unable to face the antagonistic looks and the name calling
from the people in her community. I’m sure she knew that she was the topic of conversation
on many people’s lips. I find it so beautiful to see Jesus so graciously minister to someone
who was the victim of gossip.
As one of the pastor’s in this church I would therefore plead with you as a congregation to
guard your lips from all malicious and idle talk, realising the full extent of the power of your
words to break people down and also to bring division and suspicion to the body of Christ.
Prayer Thought: Maybe for the third day in a row you would spend some time considering
your mode of speech and if the Holy Spirit reminds you of any indiscretion, whether it be
intentional or unintentional, that you would make peace with God, make restitution with those
whom you have wronged and resolve strongly, with an enormous dose of courage, to do better
as you discipline and control your tongue.

Thursday
Proverbs 15 v 28 – “The heart of the righteous weighs its answers, but the mouth of the
wicked gushes evil.”
Today, I would like to move on from the forbidden forms of speech to speak about three
categories of “good words” that God actively approves of. In the verse above, we see God
affirming the use of THOUGHTFUL WORDS.
The key word in the above verse is the word “weighs”. This word infers a conscious act of
evaluating the things that we say. If all your words were put onto a scale, which side would
be the heaviest; the negative words, forbidden by God, or the positive words, affirmed by
Him? We all know that thoughtless words are like toothpaste that has been squeezed out of