My husband and I have been convicted of the sin of gossip. We have listened to Dave Ramsey speak on it in his book EntreLeadership and we caught his passion for how destructive gossip can be. He and I have set a rule in our home that if one of us begins to gossip, we have the responsibility to stop the other one. We will call each other out if we even feel like our conversation is heading in that direction.  A few years ago the Lord spoke to me and I felt it down to the core of my being. He said to me, “Girl, you want me to use you? Then you better get a hold of your mouth!” He has brought that truth back to me over the past few years. I have experienced embarrassing and uncomfortable situations simply because I couldn’t keep my mouth shut. I have seen and experienced the destruction of gossip for both the gossip-er and the gossip-ie.  I believe that the devil knows exactly how to tempt and destroy the church. Most of us are not tempted to experiment with drugs, we have no desire commit a murder or mess around in the area of serious alcohol addiction. However, he KNOWS we are easy to get on the gossip-train and ride it day in and day out. I mean, come on, you know that lady had a crazy outfit on Sunday. And did you SEE the way that he spoke to his wife?  My kid came home and told me that her kid plays video games 7 hours a day. Can you believe a parent would let her child do that? That would never happen in our house.  You see how easy it is? It is so easy, I was convicted by merely typing the examples. In the very short time I have held a particular position of leadership, gossip has already come around to hurt my soul and effect my worship. Luke 16:10 says, “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.” How then can we expect God to bless our families, ministries, personal lives, place of business, classroom, if we can not learn to keep our mouths shut. If we talk about other teachers, workers, or peers, behind their backs how can we ever expect God to give us more friends, more students to minister to, or more good opportunities. We have to be faithful with what he has given us. Gossip is a prime example of how to destroy the church’s faithfulness to Christ.   Dave Ramsey says, “Negatives go up; Positives go around.” To put it simply, if there is an issue, take it to someone who can take care of the problem. If there is something positive to say such as, “I was really impressed with how she handled all 20 kids by herself Sunday morning,” tell it to whoever you want! In the Children’s Ministry at First Baptist Church, I am striving to have an Open-Door Policy. This means that any time there is a situation within the ministry that is problematic, whether that be a teacher not appropriately teaching the lesson, a child who is causing serious issues, or you feel that I personally am not fulfilling my responsibilities, my door is open. I am in the office every week and my cell phone is always available for a phone call. Our talks are and will be completely confidential. Talking about an issue among the body of believers will hold no benefit. I strongly encourage you in the Lord to refrain from gossip. When you gossip you are destroying the church- the very thing that Christ died to save.  Blessings from  Him to you.   <iframe style="height: 240px; width: 120px;" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=molsmi04-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=1451617852" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" width="320" height="240"></iframe>