Gossip

I've Got a Secret - A gossip betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy person keeps a secret. Proverbs 11:13

One statement Liz made really jumped out to me: "Sadly, I fall in both camps: totally zip-lipped with the big stuff that truly matters, less careful with the small stuff that seems insignificant but really isn’t."

That hit a little close to home. 

I've had to play confidant and secret keeper quite a lot in my life.  I always take that position seriously and wouldn't dream of betraying that confidence. 

But how often to I misjudge the sensitivity of a small thing and betray a confidence without realizing the treasure of the information I was holding? 

Little stuff that's not little. Those little glimpses of deeper issues or vulnerabilities that we're not ready to lay bare, but we allow to peek through in interactions we have with people we think we can trust...with everything big and small.

I've been on the receiving side of that.  And it hurts.  It makes you feel small and exposed and wondering, "I wonder what else they say about me when I'm not around."

Today I'm challenged to keep an eye on my idle words, to abstain from whispered rumors, and to keep the secrets entrusted to my care.