It's Not Worth It

by Alexa
(Springhill, Louisiana, USA)

Gossiping can lead to major downfalls in the life of a teenager, especially a teenage girl. It seems to be that girls (keep in mind that I am one, myself) thrive on the latest news; they can't go a day without hearing or speaking gossip. I've been the victim of gossip on numerous occasions. I've never been in the "popular" crowd, so this gives the popular girls something to talk about. They only come to me if they want to try to cheat on a paper or occasionally get help with their work.

This is one thing that keeps me away from gossip. Once you're the victim of a certain act, you've got better motivation to keep yourself from it. If you've never been harmed by gossip, you think it's harmless; you don't know how it feels. In Matthew 22, Jesus tells us HIMSELF to 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' If you loved someone, would you really be spreading harmful rumors and gossip about them?

In our youth Bible study at church, our youth intern for the summer has been going over James 3. According to James 3:6, "The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell." The tongue is the smallest, but biggest troublemaker of our body. Words have the power to kill. Say someone has a low self-esteem. What could just a few harmful words do to them? There's been stories like that in the news multiple times, but we always think it's something fake, or that it wouldn't happen to anyone we know. It's the attitude we've grown accustomed to. Many people my age believe they're invincible, so they can do just whatever they feel like doing. But, that's another story for another time.

My motivation to keep from gossiping is basically God-based. I wear a 'WWJD' bracelet that I got from DNOW (disciple now) all the time. Looking at my wrist keeps me "in check" with my actions. If it's not something that Christ would do, what's the point in doing it? Exactly. There is none. If He's living in us, we're living for Him. It's no longer our life to fulfill our own selfish desires in. We're a new creation in Christ, living to bring him righteousness. It's His game we're playing, and gossip isn't in the playbook.