“Did you know Krista worked as an actress in England for two years?”
This story was circulated when I was in 11th grade. Not bad, as far as rumors go. In fact, I kind of wish it had been true — how cool would THAT be?? But it wasn’t. Not even close. When the story got back around to me, I laughed like Henry Higgins when he heard that Eliza Dolittle was mistaken for Hungarian nobility.
Here’s the real story: The year before, at my old school, I had played Cecily in “The Importance of Being Earnest”, and the director required us to to spend a full two weeks perfecting our English accents before we could even get onstage to begin rehearsals. So the “two” and the “England” and the “actress” were all right. But the story? All wrong.
Thankfully, that rumor didn’t do any harm. But that’s rare, isn’t it? Usually untruths, half-truths, and bold-faced lies do major damage to a person’s reputation. Why? Because we believe them!
How often do we listen to rumors about others and make judgments based on those rumors rather than getting to know the person for ourselves? How many people have we hurt simply by believing the worst about them? I am ashamed to think of how often I have been guilty of that.
So the next time you hear the whispering about so-and-so, walk away. Refuse to listen, refuse to believe. Get to know people yourself instead of allowing others’ sometimes erroneous opinions to shape yours.
“The gossip of bad people gets them in trouble;
the conversation of good people keeps them out of it.”
~Proverbs 12:13 (MSG)
