Gossip Grieves the Heart of God

This top line (from a popular song that we sing here at church) is probably my favorite out of everything that we sing. Its message is simple: Since The Lord Jesus made us, only He has the right to tell us who we are. God loves more, knows more, hopes more and sees farther than everyone else combined. Therefore, only He has earned the right to tell us who we are. We have been bought with a price and we are His. Thank God! If it were left up to me to decide who I was, I would long ago have been thrown on the scrapheap of life. The mercy and grace of God are simply His ability to see, hope and believe in a future for me that I cannot see. He made me in His image and then moved heaven and earth to restore me to this state. That’s what Calvary is all about, the ability to be made new into what and who God says that I am. God alone has the right to say who I am. He is and will always be the judge of all things...

One of the greatest sins mentioned in the Bible is that of GOSSIP. It stinks in the nostrils of God. Gossip is often thought of as a little white sin, a small petty sin that can be swept under the rug. However, it is among the chiefest of abominations. It makes the heart of God want to wretch and vomit. When we take it upon ourselves to tell others about who someone is or what they are doing we are usurping God’s authority. We are saying that God is not doing a good enough job in telling who someone is. He’s being overly optimistic about their future and we need to step in and set the record straight. Nothing reflects the loving heart of God more than mercy and grace. Conversely, NOTHING reflects the dark heart of prideful sin, and nothing will put up a blockade to the growth of the Holy Ghost in our lives like a gossiping, self-righteous attitude.

When Satan told that first lie to EVE in the Garden of Eden just look at how he did it. Did he come in his full angelic power? Did he show up roaring threats and intimidation? NO! He crept into the garden like the lying sneaky-thief that he is. He then ATTEMPTED TO GOSSIP ABOUT GOD Himself.

“Did I really just hear right?

“Did God really put you down here to starve?

“Is that why He told you not to eat any of the trees of the garden?

“Does He think so little of you that He’s going to let you die?

If you listen with your spirit, you can just hear the sniveling nasty-nice tone of the Devil as he deceives Eve. He pretends to be her friend while wanting nothing more than to drag her down to his level. This is the truest heart of the Devil. But fear not! There is an answer to the demonic habit of gossiping. It is embracing the Spirit of God as exemplified by Jesus. Jesus refused to throw stones at the woman in adultery. He also cried out from the cross “Father, forgive them.” He chose to forgive who I was and then to violently hurl my sins as far from Him as the East is from the West. Christ, who is our ultimate example, made the costly decision to never gossip about our sins. When we choose to gossip, we openly reject the forgiving spirit of Christ and embrace that of His chief enemy, the Devil.

Plainly put, gossip grieves the heart of our loving God. It’s something He would never do and will never condone

Let’s not erect the barrier of gossip between us and the loving Spirit of God.

Pastor Ed Brewer