Are You Fighting the Wildfire?

Exodus 20:16
16 "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

Isn't it sometimes hard to be truthful on your daily walk with Christ for whatever reason? Not only are we called to be truthful, but we need to go a step further and prevent any form of misunderstanding and mis-communication.

Have you heard others who have completely the wrong idea of someone? Perhaps they just base their impression on their first judgment. Perhaps, they go along with what someone else believes and they don't see what the person is like for themselves. The question is do you know the truth? Have you ever stood up for someone?

Even when "talk" is flying like wildfire behind someone's back, as a Christian, you should be controlling that wildfire. If you know the real deal about someone, then you should stand up for them and protect their reputation (just think, if you were in this innocent person's shoes.) Realize that if you know what's good and refrain from doing it, then it's a sin.

The lesson to be learned here is that you should always know the full story before anything comes out of your mouth. Be assured that what's coming out of your mouth is the truth. You don't want to spread rumors because what does that really say about your reputation even though people only hear what is being said about someone initially? Their going to find out the truth eventually. And where does that put you? Smack dab in the middle of a lie.

I know this is extremely vague, but a huge part of trustworthiness and honesty involves swapping out lies with the real mccoy.

If you're having a hard time making a proactive step to stop any gossip, pray to God. Also, read God's Word.