Tag Archives: Words

Office Gossip

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No doubt most of us have first hand experience of office gossip. Perhaps you are standing by the coffee machine / sitting at your desk / eating your lunch etc when a colleague comes up to you and starts talking about another colleague in a less than flattering way.

So what do you do? The big temptation is to join in and say “I quite agree and incidentally I’ve also heard etc, etc.”  Or maybe you are the courageous sort who rebukes your colleague and tells them that you do not agree with this kind of behaviour and refuse to join in with the conversation. I must be honest and admit to my shame that more often than not I have responded in the former way.

The book of James has some very strong statements to make about our speech and the words that we use. They include:

  • If we cannot keep a tight rein on our tongues then our religion is worthless. We are only deceiving ourselves.
  • We should be slow to speak.
  • The tongue is a restless evil full of deadly poison
  • We should not use the same tongue that we praise God with to curse others.

These words are obviously a great challenge for us. We all know that we have sinned in this area. So what do we do about it? Turn to God and seek His forgiveness.  I’m reminded of the wonderful promise in 1 John 1:9 that if we confess our sins to God then He will forgive us. And maybe after we have sought God’s forgiveness we can pray the words of Psalm 19:14:

“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”

Wouldn’t it be a great witness to our work colleagues if by God’s grace we are able to resist the temptation to join in the office gossip and instead honour Him with our speech?

Watch Your Words

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This morning I was reading Psalm 15 in which David asks the question “Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill?” He lists some characteristics of such a person and then at the end of verse 3 says, “and casts no slur on his fellow man.”

According to the dictionary the word “slur” means: a disparaging remark, an insult or slight.

The Bible contains much teaching on the importance of the words we speak and James warns us that praising God and cursing men, who he has made, out of the same mouth is not acceptable.

Most of us no doubt have opened our mouths and said things that we later regretted. At work we can recall emails and resend them if we decide to rephrase something we have said. However you cannot do that with words that you speak. Once you open your mouth and say them it’s too late to recall them!

These days we also have to remember that we can slur someone by a comment we might leave on a blog or something we might post on any of the social media sites like Facebook or Twitter.

We need God’s grace to help us ensure that our words are honouring and pleasing to Him.

Prayer: “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight. O Lord. my Rock and my Redeemer.” Psalm 19:14

Thinking before speaking

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During my readings this morning I was looking at Proverbs 10 and came across the following in verse 19:

When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise.

So many times in my life I have opened my mouth and spoke without thinking beforehand. The damage is then done as words cannot be taken back. Oh to have the wisdom to hold my tongue and remember this verse!