Caution Against Telling All the News

I don’t know how you were raised, but I was raised not to tell our business to everybody we passed by.

That was hard for me as a kid—because I loved to talk.

I loved to tell people what was going on in my life…

and sometimes what was going on in other people’s lives too.

One day, I told something that never should’ve left my mouth.

And I got a good old country correction—

with a little preaching that started during the correction

and finished sometime later.

That lesson stuck.

Since then, I’ve tried to be careful with what I repeat—

because not everything we know needs an audience.

We all enjoy sharing interesting information.

But a lot of what we pass along would do better staying right where it is—

in our heads.

And if we’re honest, most of us know things about other people

that we’d hope they wouldn’t spread about us.

Proverbs 11:13 - “He who goes about as a talebearer reveals secrets, But he who is trustworthy conceals a matter.”

Now, there are moments when speaking up protects others—

that’s not what this verse is warning against.

This is about the times we talk just to talk.

When repeating something makes someone else look smaller

or makes us feel bigger.

One thing’s for sure—

Momma did her best to teach me to be a trustworthy keeper of sensitive information.

I don’t know if she had this verse in mind or not,

but Scripture backs her up pretty well.