Today I was forced to think about all of the times that I have gossiped about other people without meaning it to be that way. I have never considered having a legit conversation about someone gossip if you aren't saying anything bad or judging them, but today I found out how it feels to be examined like that. Today I was informed that two people who I have no bad feelings towards and even talk to friendly all the time, talked about how I am a hypocritical Christian (If you read Ali's blog, this probably sound's familiar). And, I totally get where they would get that impression, if they were only looking at my past (see Fusion talk). So no, I don't really blame them for having this impression, but it still hurts that they think that and would discuss with other people that that is what they think. No, I don't think they meant for it to hurt me, they didn't mean to gossip, but that's what happened.
So, where do I go from there? How do I show them that I'm not a hypocrite, that I was hurt by them saying I was? Maybe I don't...maybe it's best to just drop it and let them think what they want, hoping that my actions speak louder than anything I might say.
"A hot-tempered person stirs up conflict, but the one who is patient calms a quarrel." Proverbs 15:18
I guess all I can do is focus on bettering my life by becoming more Christ-like and less human-like in the hopes that others take notice and understand that Christians make mistakes and have pasts too. So, no more gossiping for me...what about you?
Ok, this is Brian K. here. I saw that you had a blog on Ali's blog, and figured I'd check it out, and I hope that this isn't creepy...
ReplyDeleteAnywhoo... I would go the not do anything route, as difficult as that can be. Like you said actions definitely speak louder than words. Anger and strong emotions tend to feed on eachother in a loop if you try to confront other people about them, and then everybody keeps getting angrier until it blows out of control. I also think that these two people have no base for saying what they have... They clearly are making a snap judgement, I feel like oftentimes the best Christians are those who have had to endure trials, as you have. You have emerged all the stronger for it. I wish you the best of luck.