Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: Gossip Mill (05/08/14)
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TITLE: Just Be You | Previous Challenge Entry
By Hazel Robinson
05/15/14 -
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Many years ago someone wrote, “To thine own self be true!” To some, this might mean, as some have said, “No matter how I act, or what I might say, I am me! What you see, is what you get!” However, if one’s main focus is on dressing like others, or copying actions of others in any way, then that person is not being him/herself.
High School Graduation day, in our area, is fast approaching, and my heart’s desire is to reach as many youth as I can. It’s my hope to impart to them to “You are you! Be the best you, you can be! Never allow negative things others might say to you, or about you, have a negative impact on you in any way!” Just be you! Of course, first you have to know who you are – know yourself! It also needs to be pointed out that one’s situation does not determine who they are; they determine who they are.
KNOWING ME
Until I learned to love myself
I could never love another.
For, in the Bible,
Loving one’s self
Is compared to loving a brother.
Now that I’ve learned to love my self
And recognize my faults;
I can look at myself objectively,
And still have pride in knowing me!
Young people need to know that when they allow others to impose, in any area of their lives, their personal – “I think you should,” they give them too much control over their live decisions. Any resistance to what others think can, and will, often bring about gossip. The Gossip Mill opens! Gossip starts as a result of imagination – what others think in regard to how a person should act or how one should dress; what one should or should not do in comparison to what they are doing. Sometimes, also, rumors spread because someone, or even a group is being vindictive. The dictionary definition of gossip is “casual or unconstrained conversation or reports about other people, typically involving details that are not confirmed as true” So, the phrase, Gossip Mill is really just another expression for Rumor Mill
A known fact is that a lie spreads faster than truth because people tend to believe lies quicker than they will truth. Many a person has been hurt terribly because of lies spoken against them; thus, they spend a lifetime defending themselves against these false accusations. Lies, gossip, rumors, all connect; and, when I think of what they all represent, it takes me back to one big lie told on Jacob’s son, Joseph in the Bible Book of Genesis (chapters 37-50). This is a well known story full of examples for all Christians.
I pray you will be encouraged to read the entire story; however, I will deal, here, only with the lie. To break the story down, a man known as Potihar, was Joseph’s rescuer and employer, who grew to love Joseph; and at the same time, recognize his ability to be a most productive individual. Potiphar trusted Joseph implicitly; thus, he allowed Joseph to handle almost all things in his household and business dealings. The Bible doesn’t give a name for Potiphar’s wife, only the main point of her trying to seduce Jospeh, to lure him into actions with her, as she said, “Lie with me.” Joseph rejected her advances, as he mentioned how trusting and kind Potiphar was to and with him. But, most important, his statement, “I cannot do this wicked thing and sin against my God.” Joseph ran out of the house. Potiphar’s wife twisted the story and told her husband. She lied and said that Joseph had made the advances toward her! Potiphar believed what his wife told him, and Joseph wound up in jail. We can only imagine the gossip behind such a story as this!
Main point, this was not the end! Our God is always in charge! Joseph was crowned to do further work for God; as the Apostle Paul wrote in the Book of Romans, “Now we know that all things work together for good to those who love the Lord, to those who are the called according to His purposes.”
In this same story of Joseph, years later when talking with his brothers, how they sold him into slavery, Joseph told them, “You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.” I pray, dear reader, that you will let gossip work this way for you.
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