I took Elizabeth out for lunch today at a little restaurant we both like to go to. We sat in the back away from everyone and was just enjoying the quiet , and our conversation about our goals for the coming year. When a whole group of ladies came in and sat next to us.

They began to talk, loudly.

They were church secretaries that got together once a week to gossip about their pastors, they told their waitress.
And apparently everybody else they could trash.

We couldn't help but hear what they were talking about, because they were so loud.
One lady talked about a certain woman who came in every month for help from the church.
And, about how no matter what job she got she could never keep one. I felt so sad about the way they were talking about these people.

Did she really know that woman's heart? Or what she has been through? Maybe she was doing the best she could do. When you are broken it is hard to live a normal life. There maybe so much pain in her life that takes everything just to drag herself out of her bed every morning.

Compassion draws me to a person. It is the Love of God that draws men to repentance. Not the blunt end of someone's harsh words . We chose everyday to show the love of God or to show contempt. I want to show love.

I have always thought, what if the person who was asking me for help was Jesus? One scripture that has stuck in my soul was, "Whatever you have done to the least of these, you have done unto me." Whether it was a good deed or a bad one.

And if that person grated the church secretary, why trash her to everyone? Why not try to help her? Especially if she professes to be a Christian.

I think gossip destroys so many people. The people who are doing it, and the ones who they are trashing. It is a disease that gets in the marrow of a persons soul. It hurts so much to have someone destroy you with their words. I have had it happen to me, and I have seen many people destroyed by a vicious gossip.

My ending thought for tonight. I want to try to be more understanding of others. Not to judge, but to love.

~Nita~