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I continually stand amazed at how God weaves things from various sources together & into my life. No matter how many times I may read or hear something, He never fails to make His Word fresh & new & applicable to where I am at that moment.

This week in our women’s small groups, we watched part 2 of “A Wise Friend” in which Beth Moore teaches on wisdom in friendships. One of the five points she made was this:

Gossip is the #1 betrayal in a friendship.

Even the very word has a “hiss” to it.

None of us wants to be called a gossip but I wonder if we truly keep or guard ourselves from gossiping. Do we even define gossip in the same way that Scripture defines it? Or do we walk a fine line so as to gossip while making ourselves look “spiritual”? Do we use the guise of prayer to shroud our gossip, telling someone, “so they can pray”?

Beth shared two Scriptures which tell us the damage that gossip can do in a friendship:

“A troublemaker plants seeds of strife; gossip separates the best of friends.” (Proverbs 16:28 NLT).

“He who covers over an offense promotes love, but whoever repeats the matters separates close friends.” (Proverbs 17:9 NIV).

A few years ago, I was described as a woman so closemouthed you could tell anything to as I would take it to my grave without repeating it. I can remember thinking about the comment as I could not tell if this was meant as an insult or a compliment at that time. In listening to the video this week, I realized that no, this was a good thing. Keeping the confidence of my friends is wise.

And then this morning, God showed up on the pages of my Bible & stepped on my toes a bit……..

What happens when circumstances separates friends? Do you keep the confidence then? Or when angry, do we spout that thing that has been told to us? Perhaps to make it seem like we were right & they were wrong in an argument? Do we feel the need to discredit them…….”Ouch! Can I now move my toes out from under Your much larger feet, Lord?”

See, I read this Scripture earlier today…..

“When arguing with your neighbor, don’t betray another person’s secret. Others may accuse you of gossip, and you will never regain your good reputation.” (Proverbs 25:9-10 NLT).

May we not make excuses to ever reveal what has been told to us. May we always protect & keep a confidence. Let’s protect & maintain the dignity of the other person.

And may we protect our own reputations. No gossiping!