Leadership.

It’s not just a title. It’s not just a status. It’s character.

Even if you don’t feel you are a “leader” type, you can still lead simply by doing what is right.

There are many different “hot potato” topics in battling sin and what important values are needed to be established. However, one of the more easily overlooked issues that takes place, often without being addressed despite being spiritually “deadly,” is GOSSIP.

Gossip. It tears down. It destroys. It sows all kinds of choice poisons! It reaps drama, contempt, untruth, and destruction. It laughs in the face of the fruits of the Spirit; it mocks the Holy Spirit directly.

Some people are so caught up looking at sins that destroy the one or few people it directly affects, all the while overlooking the sin that affects, infects, and destroys everyone who welcomes it’s “words.” Gossip is dangerously divisive. Very rarely is it a member or visitor in church with a “hot potato” sin that divides a whole church. It’s the sin that everyone chooses to entertain and take part in. We’d better stop pointing fingers and clean house!

Ranking sin on a scale leads to ignorance of other sins, which leads to acceptance of our “lesser sin,” which actually leads to our own destruction.

YIKES!

We. Must. Stop.

Don’t let the lack of a specific name fool you into thinking that you aren’t meant to be a leader in areas that may call you into action. Being a follower is important as well, but all too often many people think, “I am not the leader, so I’ll just let someone else handle the situation.”

When gossip is presented, it doesn’t take a person with a title to put a stop to it. It just takes a willing person to speak up and lead the group into a healthier topic of conversation. It may be difficult,but the right action never promised to glide smoothly and gracefully across a pond like a swan.

To openly listen to a gossiper is like dining at a banquet full of food cooked in a contaminated kitchen.

You can make a difference! A HUGE difference!

Stand up. Do the right thing. Be discerning.

Putting a stop to toxic gossip is a huge part in building God’s Kingdom.

In this way, everyone can be a leader.