How do you cope with gossip? How can one be distanced from it. It is hard. Everyone is laughing, joking and soon you get swept away by talking about this one and that one! Before you know it, you get locked into it, there is no way out. How do you break away from this human habit, without looking and feeling left out?
Today I met some friends after a long time, meaning to have a friendly chat and in a matter of minutes the conversation was heading along the gossiping side! I have started cutting short anyone who starts to spread rumours about someone’s good name. I said ‘no I don’t want to hear about it’ in a nice way 🙂 I am achieving this with the help of a lot of prayer and confession. You see every time you confess this sin, you must promise Jesus that you will not do it again with His help. So when you overcome this habit, you can feel Jesus almost smiling! Yes it is still a battle to overcome, but its worth it.
Well, it so happened after I had this conversation, I opened our church newsletter and there was an article on Pope Francis speaking on gossip and backstabbing.
Francis equated gossip with murder during a Mass he held for Vatican employees on 2 September at St Martha’s House. Referring to the jealousy that swirled around Jesus, the Pope said ‘it happens every day in our hearts … It is said in a community ‘how great this person is who has come to us’ … But then gossip starts and ends in skinning the person. ‘Where there is God, there is no hate, envy or jealousy. Nor are there those who want to kill with gossip.’
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