Through The Grapevine

1 Timothy 5:13 

Now at the same time, they also learn to be idle as they go from house to house; and not only idle, but also gossips and busybodies [meddlers in things that do not concern them], talking about things they should not mention.

I have another confession to share with you guys. 

I obtained the position of the Great Value Wendy Williams in my group of church homies when I first got saved. 

Funny thing is, I was never really a gossiper before I got saved which is so weird to me. 

Even when I transitioned from elementary to highshcool, I told myself these things, "Tanzy, keep your nose out of people's business, keep your mouth off of stuff you don't know, and don't talk to boys." 

My parents didn't have to warn me about this type of stuff.

Those were my personal strict rules of engagement because I figured that if I followed those simple three things, I could avoid unnecessary conflicts. 

My observations beforehand proved to me that these were the main reasons people were jumped out here in these streets. 

So I was not about to be a casualty of wars I could easily avoid. 

My diehard allegiance to these rules would keep me covered and served me well.

I was wise before my years.

But when I gave my life to Christ, I guess I developed a hobby of gossiping. 

Since the stuff I used to do like clubbing, drinking, fornicating, and what not, I'd lost the appetite for, I found other ways to keep busy. 

One of those ways would happen to be, gossiping. 

Didn't make it no better that I was operating in a low grade form of the prophetic and my ability to discern accurately was budding which meant I was being made privy to information that was not public knowledge. 

I had an edge.

Combine this with my lack of understanding and somewhat unbelief of the prophetic and discernment, plus my overall immaturity, one can assume I was a dangerous little cookie. I would come to host a lot of Boston tea parties in my day. 

Because I had all the time and all the tea! 

It had to be God's grace that kept me out of mess that my mouth could have potentially put me in coupled with the fact that my companions were loyal vaults. Once they got it from me, that ish went nowhere else. 

Amazing. 

I was a pusher man of gossip. Ha! 

God pulled me out of that environment which would force me to repent. However, my hard head and soft (watch yo' mouth!) would cause me to enter into another environment where God would eventually use to show me just how much He HATES a gossiper. 

What better way to keep me paroled than to introduce me to the very thing He no longer wanted me to be, by allowing me to be the centerpiece of so much vile gossip I would have ever come to face at that time. 

I went from pushing it, to being it, to hating it, myself. 

I've concluded this simple thing, that people who gossip have no business of their own. 

So they talk. They spread. They exaggerate. And proliferate. 

The stuff doesn't even have to be true. If it's something they can talk about, they will talk about it. 

Some of the most vicious gossipers will do so to ruin the reputation of others. 

The more miserable the gossiper, the more disparaging the gossip. 

Here's why I had to touch on the liar first in last week's post. They run together in some of the same circles. Trust me. 

Even though my past operation wasn't built off lies, I would be connected to some people who would move solely off of spreading lies to ruin lives. 

Now, I was filthy, but I wasn't that filthy. 

Here's why this is a problem, especially in the kingdom and the house of God, while we're called to spread the Gospel, we're really out here being baldlheaded busybodies spilling tea and spreading gossip! 

People out here throwing in the towel and giving up the ghost on the frontline every hour, while we're over here wasting time talking about stuff we have no business talking about. 

Flashing our misery and putting our mouths on people we don't know. 

Either because we're bitter haters or lazy bumpkins that don't want to put in the work to master our own lanes! 

I'll tell you, no information that comes through the grapevine will be holy! 

It needs to stop being processed as such. 

Yo, check this out! 

The devil will make it a point to pitch tents near the commissioners of Christs and pervert their gifts by making them PREMIER GOSSIPS! 

It's because they will have access to people and their stories and most of them will have the gift of gab. 

Just think about it. 

No gift office or positions of spiritual authority are exempt.

For example, prophets such as I, can run the risk of being gossips because they get first dibs on a host of confidential information that if they are undisciplined, 

they can spread. 

I remember one time (post gossip pusher) I was teaching on some things among a group of people some I knew and some I didn't and I was using some real life examples to hone in on what I was speaking on. 

Once I walked away though, I felt a ping in my spirit that notified me that some of the stuff I spoke on could potentially be twisted into gossip since my audience was a mixed crowd (carnal and non-carnal) 

You know I was sick for days about this. I've had to discipline myself to monitor my methods of delivery no matter the audience to assure this doesn't happen again. 

Needless to say, if we are not careful we all can be contributors to the grapevine and rumor mill. 

We have to practice discretion and place more emphasis on being prudent with our tongues!  

Ask yourself before you open your mouth about anything that does not concern you, 

1. Is this profitable? 

2. Who will this help to progress further in their own life? 

3. Am I trying to ruin someone? Why? 

4. Do I have skeletons in my own closet and dirt under my own rug that if ever were to be exposed, could ruin me? 

That last one should have erupted an earthquake in your soul! Because it's some people out here right now still rocking their grave clothes and are the chiefest meddlers! 

Lord help us on today! 

Ephesians 4:29

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

Another reason why we have an infestation of gossipers in the kingdom and the house of God is because, people have not developed a sincere relationship with their words. They don't really believe that there is life and death in the power of their tongues. They don't care to accept that words have the power to penetrate and break hearts, smear minds, and disrupt the natural flow of people's spirits. 

They don't believe that a word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver. (Proverbs 25:11) 

They don't know the weight of their words on the listener nor how the listener will later respond to them. 

They don't know that words spoken out of turn or context, can cause severe bottlenecks in the spirit on their behalf and trigger misfortune to ricochet back to them. 

You put your mouth on someone you have no business doing so, you can best expect something's going to come down that pipeline of sowing and reaping with your name on it.

And that's law!

I've seen just this year, the repercussions of those who've made an actual career out of gossiping. You know the ones who are being paid to put their mouths on others? 

Well, they've been catching mad hell. Some of them have been caught in their own scandals and made the talk of the town. They've been pulled into heated beefs with fellow paid gossipers. 

Others have been caught in lawsuits or have been publicly scorned by those in high places. Listen to me, gossip has a hefty bill to foot. 

Unfortunately, for those who've built their entire livelihood around it, they'll continue doing it forever just because...they have to eat. 

Yet if the bleak consequences of the professional gossips are evident, how much more will it be for those who are on the clock for FREE? 

Anyway, the first epistle of Timothy was written by Apostle Paul to Apostle Timothy instructing him on how to further lead the Church of Ephesus. It's safe to assume that yes, the Ephesians needed continued guidance aside from the letters Apostle Paul personally sent them.

As I mentioned in a previous post, the Church of Ephesus was primarily made up of uncircumcised converted men and women, meaning they were not born in the faith. 

I'm not at all surprised that he had to nip that gossiping demon in the bud. 

Now the 13th verse in the 5th book of the first epistle of Timothy, was directed towards a specific group of people; the young windows. 

In a few verses before this though, Apostle Paul made clear of who should be listed as a widow and those were women sixty and older with provable fruit and good deeds displayed. 

As for the younger widows they weren't necessarily supposed to be added to that list because according to Apostle Paul their sensual desires would eventually overwhelm their dedication to Christ where they would want to marry, forgetting their original pledge to God. So this is how we arrived to verse 13 where he stated that they would also become idle, gossiping busybodies. 

I felt compelled to research the word "widow." Of course it means a woman who lost her husband. But I found out in Greek it means an unmarried man. *Gasp!* 

I dug deeper and found out that it also means- "be empty, lonely." 

Somebody catch this please! 

A people in God who are estranged from their relationship with Christ, are as similar to a woman who has lost her husband or a man who is not married, but even worse they will be empty and lacking purpose, and almost certainly will experience acute loneliness. 

Then they will transition from priests to parasites that feed off the excrement of hell to satisfy these feelings of loneliness. 

This my lovely friends is all of what a gossiper is. 

Bottom feeders in no true covenant with God devoting portions of their lives to entertain premeditated foolery. 

It is a travesty! 

What's the cure? No one has to be a gossiper forever! You can change. Step on the breaks lightly. Put your vehicle in reverse. Back up. Turn all the way around and go in the complete opposite direction. 

You know what that is? 

#REPENTANCE.

It's going to require a changed behavior after you've acknowledged the error of your ways. 

Then you can become recommitted to your relationship with God and open yourself up to receive a new definition of what this relationship with you and Him is supposed to look like. 

I guarantee you will notice how your empty spaces will be filled with pieces of your purpose. And you will be provoked to find ways to put these pieces together. 

You will no longer have the appetite to put your mouth on other people or to frolic with the spiritually unbetrothed.

You will no longer have the time to be a busybody. 

Nor have feet that are swift to run to evil but feet shod with the gospel of peace. 

You will become compelled to be the type of grapes that can be crushed and poured into new wineskines. 

Then may the only vine you desire to be connected to, be the one and only true and living vine.