Consequences

 

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is god for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. Ephesians 4:29

 

Someone gave me a piece of information about an acquaintance. I am sorry to say that I added more factual information to the conversation.  I had it from a reliable source. Even though true it didn’t need to be said. God prompted me in my spirit at that moment. I knew I should stop but I was already into it so I finished the sentence.

I should have been quiet. I called my friend the next day and apologized.  She was kind and hadn’t thought of it as gossip (she’s a good friend!). But, the Lord knew and He was not letting me off the hook.

We can ignore God’s prompting but if we pay attention to Him, He will ultimately bless our obedience. My blessing was peace after being guilt ridden until I made the call.

The conviction of sin is one of God’s gifts to us.  He loves us too much to leave us in our sin. The Bible tells us that we will suffer consequences for sin. Some of them are obvious; we may cause pain to others or literally cost ourselves a lot of money (in fines or restitution).

We may also experience spiritual consequences to sin if we don’t turn from it when God convicts us. Consider the following:

Sin steals joy. After Nathan had confronted David about his sin with Bathsheba David asked God to “restore the joy of Your salvation.” Who would choose conviction of sin over the joy of God’s salvation?

One sin may open the door to other sins. Isaiah 30:1 says, “Ah, stubborn children,” declares the LORD, “who carry out a plan, but not mine, and who make an alliance, but not of my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin.” It is a slippery slope from one sin to the next.

Things like my little gossip incident grieve God.  Ephesians 4:29–30 addresses our words, “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”

What a gift Jesus gave us when he took the penalty for our sin. But, we keep sinning, like my gossip.  In the same sacrifice of Christ, all of our sin is covered. In order to be free of the guilt and the pain of sin, we must confess and turn from it.

This time, I have confessed and sought forgiveness. I will pray that the next time I am tempted to give more information than is needed, I will heed the prompting of the Holy Spirit telling me to stop before the words are out of my mouth!

It is much better to offer grace to others than to grieve God with our speech – even if the other person never knows we said anything.