Telephone

Do you remember that game "telephone"?  You know, the one where person A tells something to person B, who passes it down the line.  By the time the last person hears it, the entire message is twisted.

Some days, I feel like I am living in a real life game of telephone.  I would like to blame it on small town politics, but sadly, I participate in the game just like everyone else.  This past week has been especially difficult.  I know that I opened my big fat trap more than I should have.  I justified it by saying that it wasn't really gossip.  Rather, I was just sharing facts.  But, like the game of telephone, the message gets misconstrued when it passes through the ears and lips of several people.  It's human nature.  Maybe we don't understand the full story, maybe we embellish it a little, maybe we just flat out lie.  Whatever happens, it usually ends with someone getting hurt.

Like everyone, there have been times when I have heard pieces of "information" about myself that I really didn't want to hear.  I guess it was God's way of showing me what happens when we play the game of telephone.  At the same time, I have also listened  to and spread "information" about others, that I could have put a stop to, but I didn't.  The problem with playing this game of telephone is that we are not kids anymore.  This is real life and the messages that get spread, whether true, false or somewhere in between have real life consequences for the people involved.  When God laid this issue on my heart, I did a google search on gossip.  The verse that jumped out to me was Ephesians 4:29 which states,

"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only
what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it
may benefit those who listen."

The part that strikes me is that the verse takes our talk BEYOND gossip.  We, and I especially, need to build others up.  I found that in our little town, we are experts at tearing others down.  For some reason, we seem to revel and delight in the demise of our friends, family and neighbors.  If I am to be honest with you and myself, I am one of the guiltiest of sinners when it comes to this. 

What do we need to do about this?  I'm not sure.  I know for myself the Lord has opened my eyes and my heart to both the damage and the healing that can come from my mouth.  I pray that He continues to make me more like Him, refining both the words that I allow to come out of my mouth and giving me the strength.  I pray that He does the same for you.  The good news is that in our prayers, there is no telephone line for the message to get twisted.  He knows our hearts even better than we do.