Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: FALSE (04/15/21)
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TITLE: The Secret Sin | Previous Challenge Entry
By Dolores Stohler
04/20/21 -
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But God, being of a more righteous and compassionate mindset, goes above and beyond the limitations of our human mind. When presenting the ten commandments to Moses he wrote, “love your neighbor as yourself”. (Leviticus 19:18). In Proverbs 3:30, Solomon, in all his wisdom, wrote, “do not accuse a man for no reason when he has done you no harm,” (NIV) and Matthew, Mark and Luke all record Jesus as saying, “love your neighbor as yourself”. How many of us will seriously consider doing this? When we commit an act of kindness such as buying food for the poor, we give ourselves a pat on the back. But then we turn right around and speak ill of a neighbor down the street whom nobody likes, or so we think. God may be watching out for that person.
The sin I'm condemning is gossip. It happens all the time, in or out of church. The person we dislike is open game to our disparaging remarks. And to get our point across, we build upon our accusations, making the person sound as unlikable as we can manage. Remember that it wasn't Pilate who condemned Jesus, wanting to send him to the cross. Self-righteous Pharisees built a case against him with their poisonous lies and would not allow him to be released.
Now, think about this, aren't we doing the same thing when we build a case against the neighbor we dislike for some reason? And if we don't discredit him by speaking out against him, are we forgiving him in our heart? We forget what Christ would do. He would pray for that neighbor and pray him or her right out of that problem, whatever it is.
Gossip has so many repercussions. Maybe you've been the victim of false accusations, as I have too on several occasions. It hurts deeply to know that someone has been saying things about you that you know aren't true. And even if they were, it would be so much kinder if that person were to do something to help with your problem. And do it in private – pray for you daily and then approach you in private with a solution perhaps.
And never is it OK to make something up that's damaging to a person's reputation and may land them in trouble with the law or someone else. That is cruelty of a sort that is just as harmful as physical abuse. And it happens all the time with supposedly good people harming their neighbors and failing to obey the Lord's command to love them. Jesus said something about the tongue being a deadly viper. Since he is without sin that couldn't be an exaggeration.
One last thought: what secrets are we hiding from others for fear we will be condemned if we tell anyone, even our best friends? These secrets may not be crimes or actual sins but simply things we want to keep private. Some people lack friends because they're afraid to speak their thoughts. And this could be because they've been gossiped about in the past.
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