Watch your MOUTH Betty

Proverbs 18:8 - The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to a man's inmost parts.

Last week after I left a doctors appointment I had to kill time until I could meet a lady to buy a book, so I decided to have a late lunch, all by myself. I went to a little Mexican place that I rarely eat at, they have the BEST chips and I couldn't wait to eat some. It was around 2, so the place wasn't busy at all. The lady sat me a couple of tables over from a group of 7 or so people, they seemed to have been there for a while, just talking & laughing. You could tell by appearance that the people at the table were Christians, well, I couldn't see their hearts but again, by their clothes & hair, I felt sure that they were Christians. I ordered my food & decide that I needed to eat slow, so that I could waste time until the meeting.
    As I am sitting there enjoying my meal, my ears start hearing the conversations from the group across from me and all of a sudden, my chips didn't taste as good. I started to hear phrases about other preachers, not totally bad ones but they seemed pretty judgmental. I also heard about certain people that weren't in church & how they would never change and the tithing topic got brought up as well. I was appalled to hear these conversations so loudly and in public, from what it seemed to be pastors and or leaders. I wondered if the other family that was sitting near this group, were Christians and if so or even if not, was this kind of talk turning them off? A voice in me kept saying, you know, you should say something to these people on your way out! As I am sitting there, thinking these thoughts, I realized how much judgement I was placing on this group!!! Would I have listened as closely if I couldn't tell that they were Christians? I didn't know if these people had bent over backwards to help the families that they were talking about & maybe they were just at a lost as to what to do. Who was I to judge their judgements? Had I not had some of these very conversations myself? You know, I don't know if what they were saying was just gossip, discernment or just talking problems out but what I do know is that it affected me. It made me loose my appetite! It made me start thinking about what I say, not only in a public place like that for everyone to hear but also on the phone with just a friend or in front of my kids. I don't want others to feel what I felt that day. Sure we need to talk & be discerning and we need to make judgements about certain people and issues so that we can know how to address situations. The one thing that hit me though is that if you aren't covering the people or situation in prayer, if you are just talking & not praying, it probably shouldn't be coming out of your...MY... mouth!! This includes family...ugh.... yes friends & family members that just can't get it together, that choose to live foolishly. You know the ones that drive you insane with always living in drama and a full blown crazy cycle that they choose to live in? Yeah, so God has really told me to watch my mouth!! Watch it because my words can affect & infect people. Instead of venting about how wrong this or that person is, I am choosing to let it out to God. I want my words to represent Christ. Proverbs 16:24 Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. 
   Lord, help me to watch my mouth, even if that means to talk less, even if that means that I need to learn to bite my tongue, even if that means that I might not get my .02cents in! Help me to to talk my judgments out to you & depend on you for clarity & direction! You, my redeemer, are my defender, your defense carries more power than my words, remind me to always allow you to defend my  honor and should I have to speak, make judgments or even take action, help me to do these things through you!!