When I gossip, it changes me. What may have started as a small misunderstanding grows larger the more I share it. I become more vested in my point of view. Since that house church meeting, I've been using the Tasty Moral Test to watch my motivations before I speak of another person.

Tasty Morsel Test:

1.Am I hungry for a treat or for a meal? I'll often share or listen to something because I'm excited about a tasty little nugget, not because I'm really hungry to help, hungry to forgive, hungry to lay down my life for this person.

2. Will this knowledge sit in my soul as poison or nourishment? Once I share or hear this, will it help me love and sustain the people involved? Or will it leave me with a sour taste about them, poisoning my ability to help them?

3. Will I roil, churn and want to belch this stuff out? Crude as it may sound, one tried and true test for gossip is how quickly I want to unload it.

We need hearty soul food. With Christmas pressure to ramp up family and ministry activities we will be sorely tempted to put tasty little tidbits in our souls. Let's nourish our souls with meals that sustain us so that we are healthy enough to share good soul food with others.