BUSTED!

I got busted Sunday night.  Not the handcuffed, off-to-jail busted (at least not this time!) but the "why did you say that" kind of busted that reminds me so well that the moment I start thinking I'm doing so good, I go and do something I wish I didn't.  Now, the error of my ways was a bit of gossip I dropped into a conversation that 1) isn't something I really even care about and 2) was totally useless and inappropriate.  I had heard a 3rd or 4th hand story about someone famous a few days ago, the famous person came up in a conversation Sunday night, I spoke as if I was an authority on the subject and later, that friend asked why I said it if I really didn't know.


Good question.  It's why gossip is a bad thing.  It's why I detest those magazines hanging on the racks at Wal-Mart ready to give us all the dirt on someone.  And, the crazy thing is, I look at that stuff and think I'm above it.


The simple little reminder here is that I need to check what I say before I say it.  There's a reason James talks about the damage that can be done with the tongue.  There's a reason Paul tells the Corinthians that they are not their own, they were bought at a price and to honor God with their bodies (including their mouth).


A few years ago, that gentle reprimand might have brought forth some anger from inside me.  Sunday night, I was thankful for the reminder that I need to always be alert to the things I can say and do that do not honor God because that is what I want to be doing, honoring and glorifying him in all my ways.


Grace and peace to you.