When You Have Done All You Can…Stand (Thoughts on Gossip & Forgiveness)

Charles Spurgeon said Christians need, “A tough hide and a tender heart.” Well I have needed both this week. It is rare that I deal with gossip and slander. But I have certainly had to deal with it this week. It’s been weighing heavy on me. Christians are prone to gossip. We say silly things like, “I think you need to know this” when in reality we don’t. We say things like, “I am telling you this so that you can pray” when in fact we don’t. We have quite a few cover ups for gossip.

I have dealt with two difficult situations this week. One ended in a God-glorifying way. The other did not. So how am I to respond? What do you do when someone hurts you and offends you? I have been asking the Lord this question all week. This morning, the Lord woke me up early and began to minister to me on how I should handle this painful situation.

Ephesians 6:13 says, “ Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.” I am glad that the Bible does not sugar coat situations. It does not say that if you love Jesus and live to His glory that everything is going to be great in your life. It actually says the exact opposite. Ephesians 6:13 is telling us that we better have on the armor of God because Satan is targeting God’s people. So intense will the warfare be that it will be difficult to withstand it.

When I woke up this morning, I was thinking about all the situations I am dealing with at this moment. These 2 hurtful situations previously mentioned and several other circumstances that have me asking the Lord what He is doing in this season. I began to think about what Paul says about our “inward man.” Our inward man is our spirit. It is our soul that is created in the image of God and will never die. As I am thinking about my inward man, I think to myself, “I bet he looks pretty beat up right now.” I pictured a boxer in the corner of the ring getting the blood wiped off his face and getting glue and taped up ready for the next round.” I had to chuckle thinking about this, but then the Lord began to speak very clearly to me.

The Lord began to show me how Satan loves to back us into corners. Daniel 7:25 says in the last days Satan will, “…Wear out the saints of the Most High…” God was quick to remind me that the struggle I am in and the hurt I am feeling from the gossiping and slandering is not against my fellow brothers. No! The fight I am in is with the kingdom of darkness.

As I was reading Ephesians 6:13, the first word is, “Therefore.” Now that is an important word in the Bible because it is a transition word. Anytime you begin reading Scripture and it begins with “Therefore”, you should immediately go backward to see what was just said. When I looked at verse 12, it all made sense to me, “ For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

Why should I stand? Because my struggle is against spiritual darkness, not against my brothers in Christ. I cannot stop them from talking about me. I cannot prevent them from saying the things that they choose to say, but what I can do is control how I respond. I can look past them and recognize that this has Satan’s fingerprints all over it.

So the Lord encouraged me this morning. He said to me, “ Just stand because soon the bell is going to ring. I am going to return.” He reminded me of James 5:9, “Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door.” When the Judge returns, we will give an account for all that we have said and done. I want to keep my eyes focused on doing what God has called me to do. Satan will attack and he will fight, but my job is to just stand.

Soon God will “…deliver us from this present evil age…” Galatians 1:4. But until then, God has encouraged me to stand because the gates of hell never have and never will prevail against the Church (Matthew 16:18).

Has someone slandered you? Has someone’s actions become a stumbling block to you being who God wants you to be? They have may have sinned, but do not let their sin cause you to sin by responding in a wrong way. Consider Hebrews 12:15, “ See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no ‘root of bitterness’ springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled.” Is there a root of bitterness in your heart?

Look past them and look to Christ! Recognize Satan’s fingerprints and offer grace and mercy the way Christ has offered grace and mercy to you. If you struggle with forgiving someone, ponder this Scripture today, “ bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.” Colossians 3:13