Thank you for your prayers on behalf of my father, George, and for me as I travelled to visit him this week in Indiana. He’s improved since his stroke a week ago, but he’s clearly diminished in strength and mental sharpness. His prognosis isn’t good but we’re counting the blessings of those moments when he is lucid and even smiling. Dad is looking forward to the day when he goes “home” and will lay aside the hassles of the flesh in return for his hope that is forever realized.
March 15, 2013
One of the best ways to strengthen a relationship is for us to keep our mouths shut.
Sounds easy enough to do, but our life record shows times when it apparently wasn’t easy enough for us.
We gossiped.
And people got hurt.
More specifically, they felt betrayed.
Nobody likes that feeling.
I certainly don’t and you don’t, either.
When we find somebody who has looked into our dirty laundry basket and yet keeps his or her mouth shut, we’ve found something very precious.
We know they could trash us, but they choose to protect us.
That builds trust. And trust is the foundation for relationship intimacy.
Remember Paul’s words in I Corinthians 13 — love always protects.
Please, heed Solomon’s advice found in Proverbs 11:13.
“A gossip betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy person keeps a secret.”
Refuse the temptation to gossip about somebody who has irritated you or taken from you and embarrassed you and outshone you or disappointed you.
Protect their secrets as if they were money in a vault.
It’s a Golden Rule thing, you know.
It’s what will perhaps soften the offender’s heart toward you and toward the Gospel.
Turning the other cheek really IS good for evangelism.
Most importantly, it’s what God expects from me and from you.
As always, I love you
Martin
