“But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were furious and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.” ~ Luke 6:11

I hadn’t talked to her in a while.  It had been several weeks actually.  But I felt compelled to give her a call.  I didn’t know why, but the Lord put it on my heart to make that call.  I prayed about it before, but I still had a little bit of dread in my heart as I dialed her number.

For years I was her partner in crime.  We would call each other when anything happened that would get us riled up and ready to share in our misery.  It really didn’t matter if it was a family member, co-worker, neighbor or friend.  Whoever had wronged us or someone else, we would give each other more than an earful of what they had done, what they should have done, and how wrong it was.  We would talk for hours about anyone and we were sure they were wrong and we were right.  I honestly don’t know if it was the gossip that held us together, or maybe it was having someone to vent to that didn’t judge me the way we were judging others.  Or did she?

It never occurred to me that what she said to me about others she would also say to others about me.  I expected loyalty, but was only hurt by the same words that had bonded me to this person.  I began to hear more of the things she had said about me from mutual friends and family.  At the same time, the Lord began to change my heart and how I use my mouth.  In fact, it was a drastic change in my life as I died to my old self and began to live completely for Him.

“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer.” ~ Psalm 19:14

It is clear to me now that how I used my mouth over the years was not at all how He designed me to use it.  In many ways, I was just like the Pharisees as I plotted and conspired to hurt others with my words.  In the same way, I was plotting and conspiring to hurt my Savior.  Have you ever sat around the break room at work, or even the kitchen at church and listened to others talk about others in the same way as the Pharisees?

I would imagine the Pharisees were sitting around talking about this Jesus and what He had been doing.  They talked about each event and what that did to them or how it made them look.  How dare He do these things!  The rumors were swirling, and can you imagine the gossip at that point?  Just as we may say, “I’ll show her..” or “Did you hear…” or “Wait until I…” in such a vindictive tone don’t you think the Pharisees said the same about Jesus that day?  Imagine what they said and did to urge the false accusers to come forward.  Jesus said in Matthew 26:37 “… I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” This was a clear message to my heart that as I talked about others, whether directly against them or just carrying on about what they had done I was also speaking these things of Jesus.  Regardless if spoken in anger, hurt, jealously, whatever emotion sparks the words from my mouth I was speaking them against Him.

The phone call that day was a reminder to me of the changes my Father had made in me.  I not only felt dread about making the call, but I wondered what I would say to her when she started.  The old me was gone, and the new me had not faced this yet.  Before I could even ask how she was, she started on the same old path.  But this time, I smiled as I listened to her carry on and carefully chose my words.  I reminded her of the things to be thankful for and at times just sat silently.  I had prayed that I would see her through His eyes and He answered that prayer.  At the same time, my Father showed me areas of my life that I still need to work on and He helped me to understand areas in my life I had previously questioned.  I was blessed for being obedient and making that phone call.

It was exciting to experience the change the Lord made in me.  That change began when I put complete and total trust in our Father.  It was only when I truly let go of all the things in my life that I had fought a lifetime to control, and gave Him the trust to take care them.  I used my mouth to gossip because I wanted so badly to control what others were doing, and I wanted someone else to agree with me in my anger.  All of this is the work of the enemy and we must learn to recognize it and stop justifying it. In John 16 we are told one of the works of the Holy Spirit is to convict us of our sins.  I encourage you to ask the Holy Spirit to help you recognize it for yourself.  It wasn’t until I realized this and gave it to my Father that it resulted in a complete change in my use of words.

He taught me that not only do my actions need to follow His example, but my words are to follow that same example.  This was a battle that I had to be prepared to fight.  He showed me the strength in His Word, and gave me 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 to use when the enemy tries to come against me.  He is my sword and my shield, and I am forever grateful for His amazing grace.

“The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.  We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” ~ 2 Corinthians 10:4-5

Jessica is first and foremost a daughter of the King!  The discovery of her place in the kingdom has placed a passion in her heart to help others find the same freedom in Christ.  She lives in Keller, Tx and is married to an amazing man, who shares in her walk with Christ daily.  She has three adult children, two children-in-laws, a 16 year old stepson, 3 grandchildren and a 4th on the way.  She enjoys her daily time with her Father, finding new ways to laugh with her hubby, sewing, crafts, working and loving on her grandbabies.  She attends Gateway Church, leads a women’s bible study (Sisters at Heart), and will share her testimony with anyone that will listen.

Jessica Steiber