NO DUMPING ALLOWED!
"Jerks," I muttered loudly as I threw their trash bags into the church dumpster. Someone in the neighborhood has decided that it's cheaper to have the church pay Waste Management than for him or her to pay. I've dug through some of the trash bags trying to find a name or address but their pretty slick; they haven't made that mistake yet. In the dark hours of the night, or early morning, they do their "trash drop" and go happily on their way. Sometimes it's just two bags. Other times it's five or six. And, they use the expensive, heavy-duty bags, too. That's for all the beer cans, beer bottles, cigarettes and sloppy garbage. YUK!!
Why can't we get just as aggravated when people try to use our ears for their trash dumpster? You know what I mean? Complaining, griping, trash talk, bitter remarks, and hateful speech. Gossip, lying, criticizing, and discouraging words.
I remember a few years ago a church council member met me at the door and blurted out, "I can't take it any more. Every time so-in-so talks to me it's bitterness, complaints and hatefulness. I'm going to resign from the Council so I can be free of them."
"Why do you allow your ears to be their garbage cans?" I asked.
I think it would be a good idea for Christians (myself included) to take an honest look at their garbage dumping behavior. We should never be comfortable dumping our trash in the ears of our Brother or Sister.
The Apostle Paul cautioned in Eph 4:29, " Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers."
Now, I surely know there is a big difference between a garbage dumpster and our ears. But, it does make a good point. Don't you think? I pray the Lord blesses you today. Warmly, in His love and life, Roland Scroggins © 2007