If you knew what I know about me …

Have you heard the story of the three preachers who spent a Monday on the golf course together?

As they golfed, they talked about their lives. The longer they talked, the more personal the conversation became.

After finishing the ninth hole, one preacher said to the others, “I really struggle with honesty. It’s just too easy for me to say what sounds good rather than what’s really true,” he admitted.

“I can understand your struggle,” one of the other preachers responded. “I have a real weakness for lust, and it seems there’s just so many beautiful women in my church.”

The first two preachers just shook their heads, then looked to the one preacher who had yet to confess anything and still remained quiet.

Finally the first preacher said to his quiet companion, “What about you brother, what do you struggle with?”

“Gossip,” replied the last preacher.

After a story like that, we’re tempted to think the moral of the story is to be careful about choosing who you share certain information with.

That’s not really a good moral for this story.

Such a moral feeds our natural inclination to attempt to hide our sins rather than to confess them and repent of them. By hiding them, we think we can keep them while exhibiting an external portrayal of integrity.

Here’s a better one: live your life in such a way you wouldn’t be fearful to sell your parrot to the town gossip.

“People with integrity walk safely, but those who follow crooked paths will slip and fall,” Proverbs 10:9.

Scotty