I Sinned A Great Sin Today.

I am so ashamed of myself. I’m sure God is ashamed of me too. I can’t believe I fell for one of the oldest tricks in Satan’s Handbook. I knew better. I’ve even preached and written about it. I am without excuse.

I passed on some information that I’d gotten from an ‘Official’ source, and that ‘Accurate’ information was later determined to be untrue.

The ‘news’ of an acquaintance’ failure brought pain to my heart, and pain to the hearts of the three people I told.

One of the friends, that I’d told, did some calling around and then called me back to tell me the rumor was determined to be unfounded.

That was welcomed news! Thank you Jesus!

But now what?

How do I fix this mess I helped create? I didn’t mean to do wrong, but I did.

I called the other two friends I’d told to tell them the good news. I told them there was no truth to the story. I told them I had given them wrong information. But it was too late.

I wish that were the end of my story. But it’s not.

How do you ‘untell’ something? How do you stop the rumor once it takes wings?

Imagine cutting open a pillow on a windy day and letting all the feathers blow away. Then, after the pillow is empty, just think how hard it would be to go find every feather and put them all back in the pillowcase. Impossible to do.

Am I so sorry I said something that was not true? I’m sorry a thousand times over!

Even though I didn’t mean to be malicious or vicious, I was. Although I thought I was relaying something that was fact and common knowledge, I wasn’t. I was wrong no matter how you look at it.

I disparaged a man’s reputation, I did harm to myself in the process as well. Even if he is totally vindicated in the long run, my believability now is severely damaged. I’m sure I deserve it.

My friend’s that I told had to make calls to the ones they told. They then those people have to call the ones that they told. How many calls will be made? Not enough I’m sure.

I can’t completely undo what I did. I am ashamed. I was wrong. That’s part of the pain of passing along a rumor. Not to mention the graver damage that I did to an innocent child of God.

Pardon me now while I go pray now. I got a call I gotta make too.

Lev. 19:16 Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbour: I am the LORD.

Prov. 26:22 The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.

Written by Martyn Ballestero

April 6, 2011 at 1:54 am

Posted in Gossip, Rumor, Talebearer

Tagged with talebearer

5 Responses

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God Bless you! I admire your bravery for admitting and trying to make it right. I think all of us are guilty at some point, whether we say something in error , out of concern, or just down right spread something. Words Hurt! I have recently been the reciever of hurtful accusations and words in an entirely driffrent situation. When the words reached my ears, this is what I wrote, I also had to pray and talk to God, the enemy comes at us from both sides, he got both of us, and thank God, Jesus hears us when we are hurt or repenting, and loves us equally:

Your words about “me” have not fallen on deaf ears, in fact your words spread like a wildfire; your false words have now reached my own ears. I want you to know that I forgive you first and foremost. I want to assure you there is “No Truth” to the slander you spread. What I do not understand, is that if you actually had such “great concern” for me, “Why did you not just call, write, FB, or text me?” Did you honestly think, you were helping me, by talking about me, by dragging my name through the mud, by destroying my reputation, and my character and integrity? Yes, I am very “HURT” by your words.

But hey, “It is OK” , I am going to talk to Jesus about this situation, and because I believe in his word , I know he is with me, and he will wipe away my tears. I was obedient, to my Lord and Savior, and it does not matter if you do not understand my mission, all you need to understand, is that I followed the two greatest commands of all:

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

Debra

April 6, 2011 at 10:34 am

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What a powerful message. Proverbs 11:13.

Lana Holt

April 6, 2011 at 11:10 am

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I appreciate your pure spirit Brother Ballastero. There are many that would have just shrugged it off as if it didn’t matter. God bless you.

Michel Heimoz

April 6, 2011 at 11:30 am

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Truly an admiral thing you did. How many would just try to apologize quietly without trying to make amends. And i say let he who is without sin……..!!

Carlene Branham

April 6, 2011 at 3:25 pm

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Guilty! Thank you for these wise words, Bro. Ballestero. And thank you for being a Godly example of what we should do when we have committed such a wrong! I love and appreciate you so much!

Crystal Smith (Morris)

April 6, 2011 at 11:18 pm

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