Discretion

When someone shares with us, we are not always the best judge of what confidences need to be held or which need to be disclosed.  Most things shared in confidence need to be kept close to our hearts and shared only with our Heavenly Father as we pray for the good of the person who shared with us.  Some things are required to be disclosed to the appropriate authorities, particularly if a person’s life is in danger.  When a friend shares their character defects with us, although they may not have specifically stated that they are sharing in confidence, we should use our discretion and keep that information to ourselves, leaving it up to our friend to disclose their shortcomings with whom they choose. 

We have not always behaved wisely with what we shared about others.  Often, we threw discretion to the wind in order to feed our own pride as “someone in the know.”  Sometimes when asked about a person, we are apt to set aside sound judgment and make known things which we would probably not disclose if the person was present.

We need to ask ourselves what our motivation is when we share things that we ought not to.  We need to think about the consequences of our actions and the harm we may cause.  To be kind to our neighbour, we need to be discreet in the way we speak about others.

Lord, guard my mouth.  Keep watch over the door of my lips.  (Psalm 141:3 NIRV)

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I ask You to help me have discretion in sharing what I know about others.  Forgive me for the harm I may have caused through my thoughtlessness.  Help me to be more like Jesus whose words give life.  Amen

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