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3/15/2010 - Secret Keeping Proverbs 11:13
SECRET KEEPING REFERENCE: Proverbs 11:13 A gossip goes around telling secrets, but those who are trustworthy can keep a confidence. Observation: Sometimes it feels like a secret is burning a hole in our mental pocket. We just want to let someone know what we know. It feels like they would appreciate being “let in” on the inside track. The truth is, others will often judge our trustworthiness by our ability to keep a confidence. When we tell them someone else’s secret, they can’t help but wonder what we would do with theirs. Being perceived as trustworthy is a very valuable commodity and not one to be wasted just to prove that we are “in the know”. Beyond this, there is the reality that gossip divides. The secrets that we tell are seldom the whole truth and cause those who hear (and often hear wrong) to make judgments about the person or group gossiped about. This results in the pain of division. Those who have been talking and those who have been talked about (and their friends), are now in two camps set against each other. God hates this kind of division in His family and that is why He speaks against gossip so often. We should listen. Application/Confession: I face this dilemma when I’m preaching. I may share an “anonymous” story of something that transpired in my counseling office (of course with no names and no identifying facts). And even though I am not exposing anyone’s secrets in a way that could be traced back, there are still folks in the audience that are caused to wonder, “If I go and talk to the pastor, will I become a sermon illustration?” My dear wife warns me constantly to be careful about this. I don’t ever want to be seen as telling secrets.
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