05.06.15 The 13th Practice for Responding to Negative Gossip About You : Silence the Gossiper
‘Silence’ the Gossiper
In Psalm 31:18, we see David commanding those who were talking against him to be silent. He says (ESV): 18Let the lying lips be mute, which speak insolently against the righteous in pride and contempt. Your prayers by faith can silence the negative gossiper through using the power vested in you to declare what you want and refuse what you do not want (Matthew 16:19); and it is not rocket science that none of us delights in being a victim of the vice.
Death and life are in the power of your tongue (Proverbs 18:21). That means that you are already empowered to speak ‘death’ to gossip in all its versions; and life into your relationships and anything that the negative rumour could be threatening to destroy. Therefore, put your tongue to work.
Before we leave this point, it is important to note that your prayers should not be directed to sending gossipers to their graves as a way of ‘muting their mouths’ or ‘silencing them’. In fact, those are witchcraft prayers that defy the law of love on which all the other laws hang. See what Jesus said in Matthew 22:37-40 (NKJV): 37...You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38This is the first and great commandment. 39And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets. So, whatever is not of love should not leave your mouth irrespective of how badly you may have been hit by negative gossip!