Its been five days of no gossip and I have to say that I feel pretty good today.  I have cut it out almost completely (a couple of slip ups) and I wanted to share some things that I have noticed.  I’ll give you the bad first…

The Bad:

I talk bad about people I barely even know.  Now I know we all talk about our family and closest friends but I have caught myself wanting to talk bad about people that I don’t even talk to that much.  I act like I think I know their motives and I have realized that I can’t judge what they do.  They are just trying to do their best like me and you.

I also noticed that we all talk bad about entire groups of people such as races, jobs people have, or where they come from.  I love how we think we can do this.   This can be hurtful as well.

The Good:

I have noticed that this past few days I have been complaining less.  Now I used to complain about people and I know that’s off limits but I am just not really complaining about anything as much.  Maybe I just don’t want to be negative but I’m sure others don’t wanna hear my every ache and pain or problem either.

I have had others including my mom, aunt, and good friend tell me that they will also take this challenge.  Now I talk to my mom almost every day and I would tell her all about everything and now I know I can’t.   These people are going to hold me accountable.  It also makes me feel good to know that I can have a slander free conversation with these people and feel good about our chats.  
Suggestions:

Compliment Book:  I started one of these books to help me in this journey.  I wrote all the names of all of the people that I find myself complaining or talking about.   I then started writing as many good things as I could about these people under their name.  Do this for your entire family or at least the ones you come into contact with.  Write all of your friends, coworkers, church friends, etc.  If you think you could talk or complain about them, write their name.  This is a fun exercise anyways because it really makes you think about each person and what you love about them.  If they are a friend and you can’t think of a single thing to write, maybe you should put a little distance there for a while.  If a person is only a negative influence on you, it’s time to move on.  That sounds harsh but it’s true. 

Here are the verses and quotes for the next five days.  I have started a Pinterest board here and these will be there for you to repin and print or use however you like.  I will also post other inspirational quotes so follow my board to get those too.  Try to commit them to memory and hang them everywhere.  You should also go read the verses all around James 3:5.  It’s all about what the tongue is capable of and how powerful it can be.