Tag: Spirituality and Truth

Bearing Bad News

Gossip is the opposite of the gospel. In the mouth and the ear of a gossip is a morsel of bad news, not the good news. This bad news — a story of someone else’s sin or shame — can be bad in at least two ways.

Bad information. The story may be false, and if you know that beforehand, then spreading it is not just gossip but slander (Leviticus 19:16; Psalm 15:3; Proverbs 19:5). Or you might only think the story is true (perhaps without good reason), but it turns out to be wrong — hearsay, a rumor, a half-truth (Proverbs 18:13, 17).

Bad news about someone. You might have been taught that “if it’s true, it’s not gossip.” But needlessly sharing shameful truth about someone else can be gossip. One biblical phrase for this kind of speech is “a bad report,” such as what Joseph brought against his brothers (Genesis 37:2). Just because someone actually did something wrong does not mean that we need to, or get to, talk about it with others.

“The sin of gossip is bearing bad news behind someone’s back out of a bad heart.”

Other times, we might spread a wicked story of what might soon happen to someone else. One time when King David was sick, his enemies acted concerned when they visited him but then secretly celebrated his projected downfall and spread the story that he was about to die (Psalm 41:5–8). That was gossip too.

So, in the back of your mind, when any conversation begins to steer toward the topic of other people, you can ask yourself, “Is this story true? How do I know?” “Is this story mine to tell? Is it his to tell me?” “Is this story bad news?”

Read More

What Is Gossip?

The Scriptures do not provide a definition of gossip in one location. Instead, they describe gossip in action and intimately tie it to the character of the people participating in this tantalizing sin. The Bible often uses the word gossip to describe a kind of person more than just a pattern of communication.

My way of summarizing the Bible’s teaching on this topic is to say that the sin of gossip is bearing bad news behind someone’s back out of a bad heart. This functional definition considers the action itself, the content of the corrupt communication, the situation in which it occurs, and perhaps most importantly, the motivations of the people involved.

Read More

MAY 26, 2021 What Is Gossip? Exposing a Common and Dangerous Sin

Article by Matt Mitchell Pastor, Lanse, Pennsylvania

You don’t want to be a gossip. There is no upside to being one. Gossips hurt neighbors, divide friends, and damage reputations and relationships. The Bible labels gossips as untrustworthy and meddlesome (Proverbs 11:13; 20:19; 26:20; 1 Timothy 5:13) — and even as worthy of death (Romans 1:29, 32). At your best in Christ, you don’t want to be one.

All too often, however, you and I do want to gossip. Gossiping can be fun and addictive and provide a short burst of guilty pleasure. The book of Proverbs likens the words of a gossip to “delicious morsels,” a tasty treat that promises delight to those who indulge (Proverbs 18:8; 26:22). We get bored and want to entertain ourselves by snacking on the shameful stories of other people’s lives. Or we get proud that we know something that someone else doesn’t and want to show off our inside scoop. Or we get mad and crave the satisfaction of character assassination from afar, sniping at our enemies when they don’t even know they’re in danger. Gossip can be hard to resist.

But gossip isn’t just hard to resist; it’s hard to define. We don’t always know when we’re being a gossip. It slips into our conversations, and its definition slips by us. So, what exactly makes gossip gossip? We need some handholds.

Read More

How to Have Wisdom from God According to the Bible

Photo by Vali S.

Wisdom is the ability to discern what’s right from what’s wrong. It is a gift that gives us the capability to make the right choice or decision. If knowledge is power, then wisdom is using that power the right way.

We can be educated or intelligent, but without wisdom, our education or intelligence may only be in vain. An intelligent person could earn more fame, money, and fortune, but a wise one could earn more friends, honor and God’s favor.

There is wisdom from people and there is also wisdom from God. The first may be packed with eloquence but less in substance, while the latter may not sound beautiful but full of power.

God’s wisdom can make one wise man more powerful than ten rulers in a city (see Ecclesiastes 7:19). It also preserves the life of its possessor (see Ecclesiastes 7:12).

Read More

We have a very clear explanation of that question in the following verses.

Remember, however, before we look at those verses, the idea of submission has already been introduced in relation to one another. The word “submission” is not in the Greek of verse 22, but it is supplied from the previous sentence (verse). There is a mutual submission of the wife to her husband and the husband to the wife. The husband is to submit to the wife by leading her. How is the husband to lead the wife?

  1. Because the wife is to submit to her husband “as to the Lord,” it stands to reason that the husband is to lead his wife in the way that the Lord leads the church.
  2. How does the Lord lead the church? While the Lord does have authority over the church, he exercises that authority for the church’s benefit. Likewise, Christian husbands will exercise their authority/headship for their wife’s benefit. Notice the how Jesus’ headship benefits the church:
    • Jesus loved the church—he demonstrated that love in his actions. Christian husbands will love their wives and demonstrate that love in their actions.
    • Jesus demonstrated his actions in sacrifice for the church—he gave himself up for her. Christian husbands will sacrifice themselves for their wives (e.g., energy, resources, even their own lives).
    • Jesus did this for the church’s own good—that he might sanctify, cleanse her, and present her to himself as a glorious church. Therefore, Christian husbands will exercise their headship for their wife’s good, never for their own good.
    • Notice that more is written in this passage about a husband’s leadership than a wife’s submission. There is FAR more responsibility placed upon the man than on the woman. It is my belief that it would be easier to be a woman than a man with these requirements!

Read More

2. The Legal Rights Issue

The 2nd big area of debate you will find as you start to research this topic is on the legal rights issue.

Many people argue that nowhere in the Bible does Jesus or the apostles talk about any kinds of legal rights that demons may have to attack us. Jesus just tells us to cast out demons, and they thus believe that you just go in there and take your authority and start commanding the demons to come out and leave the person without trying to find out what their legal rights may have been to be able to attack this person in the first place.

Again, our take on this is that Jesus tells us to cast out demons, but He does not tell us exactly how to do it. And again, this is where you fall back on the verse that it is the job of the Holy Spirit Himself to be our Teacher and Guide in this life. And one of the areas that I believe that the Holy Spirit will help teach us and guide us is in the area of having to deal directly with demons who are attacking people.

I remember when I first saw this big debate occurring as I started to research this topic years ago, that my common sense really kicked in.

The Bible tells us in the story of Job that we all have some kind of a basic protective hedge surrounding us. If we did not have some kind of basic protective hedge surrounding us with the Lord, then these demons would be attacking all of us non-stop, 24/7. We would all be under constant attack and we would be doing nothing but battling demons all of the time.

If we really do have some type of protective hedge from the Lord surrounding us and protecting us, and then someone manages to have demons abnormally attacking them – then my conclusion is – that there has to be some type of specific reason that this has been allowed to occur with these demons – and that specific reason will be their legal right.

For instance, if a Christian decides they are going to start doing drugs like cocaine, heroin, or meth, they then will have committed a direct willful sin against the Lord.

And if God decides to sovereignly allow their basic hedge to break down because of this direct willful sin against Him, then the demons will be able to see that big hole occur in their protective hedge and they will then waste no time in barreling right through that hole to launch an all-out attack on that person and his life.

The door opener for the demons to be able to come directly after that person in the first place was them engaging with drugs that are directly forbidden by the Lord. That door opening activity has now given the demons full legal right to be able to come directly after that person with a severe type of an attack.

Read More

How to be a blessing to those around you

Blessings could be defined as the origin of favors and graces or even as an instrument of blessing.

Genesis 12:2-3
“I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a source of blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse those who curse you, and all the families of the earth will be blessed in you.

From this verse, we can see that the Lord does not only want to bless us, but He wants us to bless all the people around us. He wants our blessing to have an impact. He wants to bless us so that we can bless in our turn.

Read More

2. God Direct us

Divine direction is another great sign When God wants to move you to a bigger Blessings, When God rebukes or corrects us to direct us, He doesn’t leave us directionless.

If we are walking with God, we are more likely to see the path that He has for us, and besides, He lights the path by His Word because the Bible acts like a light in the darkness and this can keep us from stumbling (Psalm 119:105).

If you have hid God’s Word in your heart, or memorized Scripture (Psalm 119:11), it’s like you’ve got a flash light for every curve in the road and every hazard in the way. Without the guidance of God’s Word, we are depending on ourselves.

It’s like taking a long journey without a map, GPS, or smart phone to a place you’ve never been, however, if you abide in Christ and in His Word, you can ask for anything within God’s will (John 15:4-5, 7), including directions on the path of life. When God corrects you, He also directs you, and directs you into something better.

We know that God works all things together for our very best and it doesn’t matter whether it’s good or bad (Rom 8:28)

Read More

The Blessings/Rewards Of Faithfulness

How does faithfulness rewards a man, what are the blessings or rewards of faithfulness?
1. Divine placement in authority; Anyone who is faithful must be positioned in authority, just like in the case of Joseph the son of Jacob (Genesis 39:4-6)
And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand.
And it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the LORD was upon all that he had in the house, and in the field.
And he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand; and he knew not ought he had, save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was a goodly person, and well favoured.

2. Divine promotion and progress: Faithfulness at your current level is what qualifies you for promotion to the next level.

3. Divine provision, welfare and comfort.
With all of this read, I pray that God will endue you the grace to be faithful and grant you inner strength to be able to say No to every form of compromise, in Jesus name. Amen.

Read More