Years ago a woman (we will call her Miss Lansing) had a reputation in her little town of being quite a gossip. One day she began to spread a particularly naughty story she had heard about her next-door neighbor, widow Pell.
Soon poor widow Pell could not even go to the local market without noticing the angry stares and whispered comments of her neighbors. Before long, this sad treatment caused her to fall seriously ill.
About this time Miss Lansing, who had delighted in telling everyone she met the awful story of widow Pell, found out, much to her sorrow and embarrassment, that every word of the story she had heard and had been telling others was a lie.
Now oddly enough, Miss Lansing was a Christian—or at least so she told others. When she learned the truth about widow Pell, Miss Lansing began to feel very uncomfortable about what she had done.
Day after day, Miss Lansing’s conscience troubled her. Nothing she tried to do made her feel any better. She had even taken a basket of fresh baked pastries to Mrs. Pell’s house, but the doctor met her and sternly turned her away, without allowing her to leave the basket. Finally, feeling very bad, she went to see a Christian man who knew her quite well.
“Brother Dawson,” she said, “I feel terrible about a false story I have spread about widow Pell. Will you please tell me what I can do to make things right?”
He thought for a moment and then said, “Go fill a pillowcase with feathers. Then climb to the top of the bell tower in the church and shake all the feathers out. After you have done that come back.”
Miss Lansing quickly did as she was told. As she shook the bag, the feathers caught by the wind—were scattered far into the countryside. She came back to Mr. Dawson saying, “I did just as you told me, but I don’t feel any better. Isn’t there anything else I can do to make things right?”
“Yes,” he replied. “Go pick up all the feathers.”
“But brother Dawson,” cried Miss Lansing, “that’s impossible! They’re scattered everywhere over the countryside! I could never get them all back!”
“That’s true,” said Mr. Dawson, “and neither can you collect back all of the false words that you have spread about widow Pell.”
In James 3:1-12 we read about how hard it is to control the tongue. Though very small it can cause us very big problems. “The tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity:... It... defileth the whole body” (James 3:6). Those of us who belong to the Lord Jesus should ask Him to help us each day to control the words we speak. How sad if what we say causes people to wonder if we are really saved!
“Let the words of my mouth... be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer” (Psalm 19:14).
Ed.