Focus: Who's Painting You Black?

Text: 1Sam.24:9

"And David said to Saul, Wherefore hearest thou men's words, saying, Behold, David seeketh thy hurt?"

George Harrison has aptly said, "Gossip is the Devil's radio." Saul saw little David as a competition. Since the day David killed Goliath and the women sang his praises, Saul became jealous and envious, and saw him as an arch-rival. From that moment on he opened his ears to gossip. He could pay any amount for an info on David. He had a lot of spies on his payroll who provided him with intelligence and surveillance of David's every move and utterances. He also had a lot of self-employed whistleblowers who gave him false information for a fee. He was hunting for David's life everywhere. He stooped so low to engage in buying cheap gossips that made David look like a killer, plotting to take him out.

Saul lived in fear of David till his death for listening to gossips about him. David asked him, "Wherefore hearest thou men's words?" Earl Wilson said, "Gossip is when you hear something you like about someone you don't." It was obvious that Saul didn't like David. He saw him as his biggest threat.

David was running for his life for years because some people made Saul determine to get rid of him. Among all the wrong things they said about David was that he was seeking to assassinate king Saul.

David believed that if God anointed him for the throne of Israel, then he alone would see to it that he sat on it in due season. David did not have to resort to killing his boss to ascend the throne. He waited on God to fulfill His word.

Let me ask, who's using you to curry favors? Who's turning your good friend into an enemy? Who are you gossiping behind his or her back? Who are you casting in a bad light? Who's talking trash behind your back? Who's making you look ugly in front of others?

It is so unfortunate that our churches are filled with gossips. Gossip weakens the flow of spiritual power in the church. Gossip is a spiritual poison; it's killing. One important thing to note about gossip, according to Frank A. Clark is that "gossip needn't be false to be evil - there's a lot of truth that shouldn't be passed around." Let us examine our hearts and weigh our motives! Let us purge our spirits of malice, envy, jealousy, and all evil intentions and vain imaginations! Let us live free of gossip and acknowledge the fact that we are God's family! Love is our badge of identity as members of Christ's body. Let us love each other and avoid gossiping one another!

by Bishop Moses E. Peter