Silas
Beloved of All
Your request shows how wearying and heavy this has become, with the spying and pictures and gossip spreading from house to house, the confusion over lists and numbers and bills, the extra costs and the strain that has reached into hospital stays and deep distress, and the sense that an idle neighbor with too much time is stirring up strife and trying to damage reputations.
Scripture speaks plainly about these things. The works of the flesh include idolatry and sorcery, hatred and rivalry and jealousy, outbursts of anger and selfishness, dissensions and factions and envy, and those who live in this way will not inherit the kingdom of God. There was a time when we all lived in that same place, foolish and disobedient, deceived and enslaved by passions, living in malice and envy, hated and hating one another. Only Jesus Christ saves us from that, and only He can change a heart that is given to such things.
God has summed up how we are to live with one another in this command, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. That love is not only words but deeds. If I love my neighbor as I love myself, I will not work harm against him. I will not lie about him or steal from him or cheat him or tear him down to get advantage. All that God requires in our relationships with others is fulfilled when we love in this way, because love does no harm to a neighbor.
What you describe is the opposite of love. It is the pattern Scripture warns about when every neighbor walks with slander, when people deceive their neighbor and will not speak truth, when tongues are trained to speak lies and people weary themselves doing wrong, speaking peaceably with the mouth while the heart is lying in wait. God hates the sowing of discord among brethren. A talebearer reveals secrets, but a faithful spirit conceals a matter. The one who despises his neighbor lacks wisdom, but a person of understanding holds his peace. In a multitude of words sin is not lacking, but the one who restrains his lips is wise. The hypocrite destroys his neighbor with his mouth, but through knowledge the righteous are delivered. To become an idle busybody, going from house to house bearing tales and creating problems, is not a small fault. It ruins peace and invites calamity that can come suddenly.
You are right to say we are not God and we are not called to carry the burden of defending or controlling another person's demanding and disorderly ways. We cannot trust in man to fix what only God can judge. The Lord says shall I not visit for these things, shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this. He sees the mockery and the meddling and the distribution of false information and the taking advantage of others, including the wrong charges and corrupt dealings and the use of divination and sorcery, and He will deal with it in His perfect justice and timing. Our part is not to repay evil for evil or to be drawn into the same slander and strife, but to keep our own hearts and tongues guarded, to not despise or curse in return, and to seek peace as far as it depends on us.
I pray with you now that the Lord would rebuke every spirit of gossip and slander, of idleness and laziness that turns into meddling, of discord and envy and strife, and every practice of sorcery and deception, and that He would break its power over your home and street. May He silence the lying tongue and the distribution of disrespectful images and false reports, and bring the disorder and confusion to an end. May He protect your household from further harm, guard your reputation, and deliver you from anxiety and the crushing weight of extra bills and delays and missing deliveries that have been used to provoke and distract. May He bring healing where there has been hospitalization and comfort where there has been grief that has felt close to the grave, and give you rest from the long suffering you have endured. May He provide honest work and purpose where there has been idleness, and set boundaries that stop the voyeurism and spying and the sending of others to intrude.
Ask the Lord to help you to love your neighbor as yourself in deed and not only in word, which means refusing to work ill against him even while you refuse to participate in his sin, holding your peace, concealing what should not be spread, and praying for his repentance and salvation through Jesus alone. Keep your eyes on Christ, walk in truth, speak truth in love, and trust God to be your defender. He who loves fulfills the law, and He will keep in peace those who look to Him.
Scripture speaks plainly about these things. The works of the flesh include idolatry and sorcery, hatred and rivalry and jealousy, outbursts of anger and selfishness, dissensions and factions and envy, and those who live in this way will not inherit the kingdom of God. There was a time when we all lived in that same place, foolish and disobedient, deceived and enslaved by passions, living in malice and envy, hated and hating one another. Only Jesus Christ saves us from that, and only He can change a heart that is given to such things.
God has summed up how we are to live with one another in this command, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. That love is not only words but deeds. If I love my neighbor as I love myself, I will not work harm against him. I will not lie about him or steal from him or cheat him or tear him down to get advantage. All that God requires in our relationships with others is fulfilled when we love in this way, because love does no harm to a neighbor.
What you describe is the opposite of love. It is the pattern Scripture warns about when every neighbor walks with slander, when people deceive their neighbor and will not speak truth, when tongues are trained to speak lies and people weary themselves doing wrong, speaking peaceably with the mouth while the heart is lying in wait. God hates the sowing of discord among brethren. A talebearer reveals secrets, but a faithful spirit conceals a matter. The one who despises his neighbor lacks wisdom, but a person of understanding holds his peace. In a multitude of words sin is not lacking, but the one who restrains his lips is wise. The hypocrite destroys his neighbor with his mouth, but through knowledge the righteous are delivered. To become an idle busybody, going from house to house bearing tales and creating problems, is not a small fault. It ruins peace and invites calamity that can come suddenly.
You are right to say we are not God and we are not called to carry the burden of defending or controlling another person's demanding and disorderly ways. We cannot trust in man to fix what only God can judge. The Lord says shall I not visit for these things, shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this. He sees the mockery and the meddling and the distribution of false information and the taking advantage of others, including the wrong charges and corrupt dealings and the use of divination and sorcery, and He will deal with it in His perfect justice and timing. Our part is not to repay evil for evil or to be drawn into the same slander and strife, but to keep our own hearts and tongues guarded, to not despise or curse in return, and to seek peace as far as it depends on us.
I pray with you now that the Lord would rebuke every spirit of gossip and slander, of idleness and laziness that turns into meddling, of discord and envy and strife, and every practice of sorcery and deception, and that He would break its power over your home and street. May He silence the lying tongue and the distribution of disrespectful images and false reports, and bring the disorder and confusion to an end. May He protect your household from further harm, guard your reputation, and deliver you from anxiety and the crushing weight of extra bills and delays and missing deliveries that have been used to provoke and distract. May He bring healing where there has been hospitalization and comfort where there has been grief that has felt close to the grave, and give you rest from the long suffering you have endured. May He provide honest work and purpose where there has been idleness, and set boundaries that stop the voyeurism and spying and the sending of others to intrude.
Ask the Lord to help you to love your neighbor as yourself in deed and not only in word, which means refusing to work ill against him even while you refuse to participate in his sin, holding your peace, concealing what should not be spread, and praying for his repentance and salvation through Jesus alone. Keep your eyes on Christ, walk in truth, speak truth in love, and trust God to be your defender. He who loves fulfills the law, and He will keep in peace those who look to Him.
