Joel Osteen Podcast - Don't Fuel The Fire | Joel Osteen

Episode Date: September 6, 2023

 If we’re not careful, it can be easy to get pulled into talking negatively about others. But when you protect someone’s reputation, you are sowing seeds for your time of need. Choose to show love and mercy, and you'll see God fill your life with His favor. Your best days are still ahead, and together we can make a difference in this world with the message of God's hope and love. To give, visit JoelOsteen.com/Give Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of the Joel Osteen Podcast ad-free and a whole week early. Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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heart. Hi, this is Joel and Victoria. Thanks for listening to our podcast and thanks for supporting the ministry. If you enjoy today's message, why don't you be a blessing and share it with a friend. We appreciate you and pray for God's very best in your life. Well, God bless you to joy to come into your homes. And if you're ever in our area, please stop by and be a part of one of our services. I promise you, we'll make you feel right at home. But thanks so much for tuning in. And thank you again for coming out today. I like to start with something funny, and I heard about this pastor and this song leader.

They weren't getting along. It started to spill over into the services. One Sunday morning, the pastor spoke on being willing to change. Afterwards, the song leader got up and led the song, I shall not be moved. Next week, the pastor spoke about being a giver. The song leader got up and led the song

Jesus paid it all. Next week, pastor talked about not gossiping, watching your tongue. Song leader got up and led the song, I love to tell the story. Pastor got so frustrated. He resigned, told the congregation, Jesus brought me here, and Jesus is taking me away. The song leader then led, what a friend we have in Jesus.

Hold up your Bible. Say it like you mean it. This is my Bible. I am what it says I am. I have what it says I have. I can do what it says I can do. Today I will be taught the Word of God. I boldly confess, my mind is alert, my heart is receptive, I will never be the same.

In Jesus' name. God bless you. I want to talk to you today about not fueling the fire. We all have opportunities to make people look bad. We hear rumors and things that we don't know for sure are true, but it's tempting to repeat them. And it's not that we're a bad person, we're just telling what we heard. or maybe we know something about a person that is true. They made a mistake.

They had a failure. It's easy to justify telling that because it's the truth. But there are a lot of things that are true that we don't need to tell. We should do our best to never show people in an unflattering light. 1. Peter 3.10 says, If you want to see your day fill up with good, here's what you do. Say nothing evil or hurtful. And we live in a society that's filled with rumors, gossip, innuendos.

There's a lot of chatter these days. People talking on the internet, at work, at school. They're nosy, busy bodies. They love to get things stirred up. They have no problem repeating things they know are only half true. On purpose, they'll leave out certain details just to prove their point. And if we're not careful, we'll get pulled. in and become carriers of their poison. Did you hear what I heard? I got some big news. I got some

juicy information. I read a quote that I like. Have you heard a word against your neighbor? Then let it die within you. In other words, have you heard any gossip lately? Have you read something juicy on the internet? Has a friend told you some inside information about a person? It's true. It's hot off the press. They lied. They cheated. Here's what you're to do. Don't go to the phone. Don't go call three friends. Don't get on the internet and expose them. God says, let it die within you. Don't say a word about it. Somebody put it this way. Every person carries a bucket of gasoline and a bucket of water. When you hear rumors, gossip, juicy information, you can either pour your gasoline on it, add, fuel to the fire and make it worse? Or you can do what God says and pour water on it, help to try to put it out. Too many people are using their gasoline. They try to justify it, Joel, it's the truth. They were wrong. I'm just stating the facts. Yes, they may be guilty, but the scripture says, love covers a fault. Love doesn't expose. Love doesn't tell five friends. Love doesn't get on Facebook

and add fuel to the fire. Love says they made a mistake, but God can restore them. They messed up, but God has a new beginning. They did wrong, but I'm not going to add to their pain by talking about them, making them look bad. I'm going to show mercy and let it die within me. When you know something negative about a person, you could easily show them in an unflattering light.

That is a test. How you respond will determine how high you will go. if you add fuel to the fire. Tell all your friends, get everything stirred up that will keep you stuck where you are. Because God will not promote a gossip, a busy body, a fault finder. But if you'll get your bucket of water

and help put the fire out, don't say anything about it. Cover that fault, then you'll pass the test. That's the kind of people that God promotes. The real question is when we hear juicy information, when it's hot off the press, will we use our discipline to let it die within us?

A few years ago, I was at dinner with a friend of mine. This man's name came up. And I knew firsthand this man was having legal problems. He had done something wrong, got in trouble with the law. And the friend I was with knew nothing about it. Human nature

wants to tell it. After all, the man never asked me not to. It was all true. I had my gasoline. I had my water. It's very tempting to just throw a little fuel on the fire. I don't know how he's doing. I heard that he may have some legal problems.

I could have stirred it up. But I knew there was a chance that may never come out in public and this friend's opinion of this man would never change. But if I were to be undisciplined and just say whatever I want, then because of me,

this friend's opinion of that man would forever be lower. When you protect a reputation, you are sowing a seed for God to protect your own reputation. In our conversations, we need to ask ourselves, number one, do I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is really true, or have I heard it third or fourth hand? And number two, even if it is true, is it absolutely necessary?

Do I really need to tell it, or do I just want to tell it? This friend I was at dinner with, he had no connection with the other man. there was no reason, and I didn't do it, to show that man in an unfavorable light. A lot of times we think, well, I'm just going to tell this one friend. That's not going to hurt anything. But that person will tell another person. That person, another on and on. And no matter how they retell it, it won't be the same.

Things will be exaggerated, blown out of proportion. What's big will get bigger. What's bad will get worse. That's why, if you're hearing things third or fourth-hand, you should take it with a grain of salt. It can be so tainted, so misconstrued, that very little of it is true. Don't believe it till you hear it from the real source. Victoria and I have some good friends now, but for about 10 years, they wouldn't have anything

to do with us. They liked us from a distance. We're in similar positions, but somebody that doesn't know us well, that couldn't handle God's favor on our life, poisoned their opinion. of us. They took things out of context, very one-sided, and showed how we were these terrible people, and we just did somebody wrong, we couldn't be trusted on and on. When this couple finally met us, they said, you're not anything like those people said you are. Since then, we've become good friends. My point is, don't believe everything you hear. Don't let the internet

and people that are jealous and people that can't handle success poison your opinion of somebody else. The other day a man came up to me, said, Joel, did you hear about so-and-so? By the way he said it, I knew it wasn't going to be good. I smiled and said very politely, no, I didn't hear

and if it's not good, I don't want to hear. You shouldn't let people fill you with a bunch of trash. Somebody wants to talk bad about a person, gossip, put them down. Don't sit there and take it all in.

tell them no thanks, my ears are not garbage cans. I don't want to hear that trash. You want to talk bad about them, gossip, judge them, stir up strife. That's your choice, but you're going to have to find somebody else to do it with. You've got to put your foot down and not allow people to poison your life. You shouldn't go to lunch every day at the office and sit with people that gossip. Bad mouth a boss, complain about the company, trash your friends. That's so in discord. That's one of the things that God hates. Well, Joel, if I don't eat lunch with them,

I may not have anybody to eat lunch with. Well, I would rather be lonely and not poisoned than to let that trash go into me. Do you know spirits are transferable? The scripture says, don't hang around angry people or you will become angry. You hang around gossipers,

and you will become a gossip. You hang around fault, fine, You'll become a fault finder. You hang out with nosy, busy bodies, and that nosy, busy body spirit will get off on you. Be careful who you associate with. Your time is too valuable to be poisoned. And we all know people that mind everybody's business except their own. They're nosy, prying to people's affairs, trying to get the latest scoop. Let me tell you what I heard. You won't believe what I found out. They're busy bodies. They're always spreading rumors. They've got an opinion about everything, and they're going to give it to you whether you want it or not.

They try to run everybody else's life. The truth is they can't even run their own life. Be kind, be respectful, but don't associate with a busy body. Listen, if they'll talk about somebody else in front of you, don't be fooled, they'll talk about you in front of somebody else. We have to realize, it is just as wrong to listen to gossip as it is

to tell it. Takes two to gossip, the mouth and the ears, the seed and the soil. Proverbs 1113 says, A gossip goes around spreading rumors, but a person of honor tries to quiet them. Notice a gossip has the gasoline,

but when you're an honorable person, you've got the water. You defend. You show mercy. cover. If somebody starts gossiping around you, starts talking bad about a person, you can do a couple things. Number one, you can say, oh, I just realize I've got to go make a telephone

call. I'm going to have to step out. You can politely excuse yourself. If you want to be more bold, you can say, hey, instead of talking about them, why don't we pray for them? If we would spend the same amount of time praying for people as we do talking about them,

then they would change. Person of honor sticks up for their family. You defend your friends. You cover their weaknesses. If I hear somebody talking about you and I know you're a part of the Lakewood family, I'm going to do everything I can to take up for

you. Well, Joel, one of your members tried to run me off the road last week. No, I'm sure they didn't mean to. They probably just dropped their cell phone, got distracted. No, man, they were honking their horn, had their fist up in the air. No, I'm sure they're just worshiping the Lord.

You are good. the time. You are good. I'm not going to pour gasoline. I'm going to pull water. You're my friends. You're my family. That's the way you need to be with the people in your life. Defend them. Stick up for them. Somebody starts gossiping, bad-mouthing. Your attitude should be, hey, you're messing with the wrong person. That's my family. They're a part of my church. They're my friend. They're my classmate. You have a responsibility to help stop that gossip. You

should be especially loyal to your own family. Your parents, your brothers, your sisters, your siblings, your relatives, your cousins. You may not always agree with them. They may get on your nerves from time to time. They may be a little bit different. Doesn't matter.

Somebody starts talking about your family. It's your duty to put a stop to it. That's your blood. That's who God has chosen. you to be with. Now, I've seen people, somebody starts talking about a family member, they jump on the bandwagon.

Yeah, I know what you mean. They've been a jerk their whole life. I've had to put up with them for years. No, put a stop to it. They may not be perfect, but you can say something, yeah, I know they're a little different. They've got some issues,

but you know what? They're growing. They're changing. Deep down, they're a good person. That's my family. I love them. Be loyal. Stick up for them.

Well, Joel, you don't know what they've done. My brother borrowed money from everybody in the family. It hasn't paid us back. My dad ran off with somebody else, messed up our family. That's unfortunate, but it's still your family. It's easy to kick people when they're down. It's easy to be judgmental. Say, I told you so.

But the honorable thing to do is stay on the high road and help restore them. Help bring peace back to your family. They got enough people trying to push them down. They should be able to count on you as family to help lift them up. Now, I feel very blessed because I have family members that I know would defend me till my dying day. I could go out, rob a bank, steal a car. They say, oh, Joe, he's not really stealing. He's just borrowing it.

He wants to help somebody. Now, behind closed doors, they'd tell me to get my act together. But in front of you, I can do no wrong. They're my family. They believe in me. They're loyal. They're honorable people. If we can't count on our family, who can we count on? Proverbs says, a friend loves it all time, but a brother is born for adversity. That's saying, your friends are great. We all need them, but there's something about your family.

They were born for adversity. And in the tough times, your family needs you more than ever. Too often we let strife, jealousy, competition, division, pull us apart. Rise above that. Get over the petty differences. Quit arguing over things that don't matter. In a little while, we're all going to be gone. Your brothers, sisters, cousins, relatives, they need you. Stick up for your family.

Defend them, cover their faults. The book of Genesis tells how Noah was on the ark for 190 days. with his family and with all of the animals. It rained for 40 days, then it took 150 days for the waters to recede. You can imagine how Noah must have felt, being cramped up all that time with not only the animals, but with all of his family, all of his relatives.

190 days, nowhere to go, always together. Somebody pointed out, when Noah got off the ark, the first thing he did was went out and got drunk. And it wasn't right, but he had had enough. We laugh, but most of us can only take a one-day family reunion. Imagine a 190-day family reunion with all of your relatives, never able to leave the house. Well, Noah was lying on the floor of his tent, drunk, passed out, totally naked, taken off all of his clothes. His youngest son, Ham came in and saw his father lying there, drunk.

and naked. Ham ran out and started telling everybody, found his two brothers, you won't believe what dad is done, making a fool of himself, he's drunk, he's lying there naked on and on. Ham told everybody he could find. Instead of covering his father's fault, he exposed it. He added fuel to the fire. The other two sons did just the opposite. They went to Noah's tent. When they saw their father lying there drunk and naked, they turned around. They refused to look at their father. They got some blankets and they backed into the tent, never looking at their father in that shame.

They took those blankets and they covered Noah up. They were saying by their actions, Dad was wrong. He made poor choices. He's lying here drunk and naked, but we're not going to do like our younger brother, Han, and go out telling everybody and expose him and add fuel to the fire.

We got this water. we're going to cover his fault. They were saying, that's our father. That's our flesh and blood. Yes, he's lying here in shame, but we're going to protect him while he's down. We're going to defend him while he's not up to par. We're not going to let anybody else see him in this negative light.

When Noah woke up, he found out what had happened, how one son had exposed his faults. The other two sons had covered his fault. He said to Ham, the one that went out telling everybody, your children and your grandchildren will always struggle. There will be a curse on your descendants because you dishonored me. You didn't protect my reputation.

You exposed me. Noah said to the two sons that showed him honor by covering his faults, by protecting his reputation, you and your descendants will always be blessed. You will prosper. You will rule over cities. Your land will increase. You will have God's favor because you showed me honor even when I deserved dishonor.

And it's interesting. Ham could have just as easily put water on instead of the gasoline. He could have covered his father's faults. He could have defended Noah, but he was undisciplined. He chose to go out and tell everybody. when we make the choice to make people look bad, to say things to damage your reputation, to show them in an unfavorable light,

that puts us on ham's side instead of the two-brother's side. But when you show honor, even when honor is not due, maybe what the person is doing is wrong. They deserve shame, but because you choose to cover the fault, because you stick up for your father, because you defend your brother, your cousin, your relative, God says to you what Noah said to the two sons, you will be blessed. You will prosper. You will be in a position of honor. Make sure you stay on the two brothers side. Now let's take this beyond our biological family.

How about our church family? That person you sit close to each week. That volunteer you see in the nursery. if they fall, if they make a mistake, are you going to cover them? How about that co-worker that blew it? They were wrong. Are you going to go out like ham and expose them, blow it up bigger? After all, it's true. No, just because it's true doesn't give us the right to repeat it. Well, Joel, they're guilty.

They were wrong. Yes, but only the guilty need mercy. Paul said in Galatians, when someone falls, who are spiritual are to gently restore them. Notice he didn't say to expose them to tell everybody, make sure they feel embarrassed and ashamed. He said to gently restore them. If you will cover people

when they fall, cover their weaknesses, God will make sure somebody will always be there to cover you. But it's easy to expose, want to be critical, judgmental. But remember this. The same amount of mercy you, show others is the amount of mercy God will show you. When you protect a reputation, you are sowing a seed, not only for your life, but for your children.

The scripture talks about how we can store up mercy for future generations. When you cover that fault, you may not receive the mercy. It may go to one of your children in their time of need. I don't know about you, but I'm going to be generous with my mercy. I'm not going to be a fault finder. I'm going to be a protector. There's nothing you can do that will cause me to expose you.

If you fall, I'm going to cover you. If you blow it, I'm going to protect your reputation. If somebody's talking about you, I'm going to defend you. If you drop out, I'm going to help restore you. I'm going to be a friend you can count on. Someone that will stick with you through

thick and thin to protect you, to defend you, to cover you. See, we live in a society that likes to kick people when they're down. A lot of people jump on the bandwagon. Wow, they're wrong, critical, judgmental. No, don't be a fair-weathered friend. Stick with people.

Your family, your friends, they need you more in the tough times than they do the good times. Where are the people that will defend their family? Where are the people like Noah's two sons that will say, yes, my cousin may have fallen, but don't you dare talk about them? That's my family.

He may be down. He's not staying down. He's coming back again. This is not the end. It's a bumping the road. He's going to come out stronger than before. Yeah, yeah, but I don't see how he could have made that mistake. What was he thinking? Just ask them, have you ever made a mistake? Have you ever done something that you're not proud of? If not, you can throw the first stone. But if you have, you need to zip it up because you're talking about my family. And these ears are not garbage cans. I don't want to hear that trash. Defend your family. Stick up for your friends. Put an end to that gossip. Do what you can to cover a fault. Years ago, there was a minister that made some poor decisions. It's a very public ordeal, big controversy in the press, went on for months and months. At one point, another minister that was also very well known, got on television and criticized this minister and told everyone what a disgrace he was. and how he was like a cancer that needed to be removed. No mercy. So harsh. It's as if this man's reputation wasn't bad enough already, but this minister just added fuel to the fire, made it even worse. Eventually, he had to resign, lost his ministry, a very sad situation.

But when we choose to expose, when we choose to run out and tell everybody, that's just like him not covering for his father Noah. A couple of things. A couple of things. years later, this minister that was so hard on the other minister, he got involved in the same type of thing. It was an even bigger controversy. He ended up losing his ministry as well. When somebody has done wrong, when they're at fault, you could say that situation is contagious. Like a virus, you've been exposed. Now, how you handle it is going to determine whether or not you come down with it. In other words, like a person that has the flu, they're contagious. If you get around them, you've been exposed to it. That virus can get off on you. What's going to

protect you is if you have a flu shot. The vaccination will keep you from getting it. In the same way, when you've been exposed to somebody that's done wrong, they're contagious. You can catch the exact same thing that they have. Here's the key. Mercy is your vaccine. Covering the fault is the equivalent of taking a flu shot. That's what's going to keep you from being infected. But if you're hard, you show no mercy, you let them have it, the very thing that you're critical about, because they're contagious, it can come right back to you. And we all face situations where we could be judgmental and, man, I can't believe they did that. I'm going to let everybody know how royal long they were. No, it's much better to say, I've been exposed to something that I don't want.

Now, I know the secret, I'm going to show mercy. I'm not going to do like ham, run out telling everybody. Let me tell you what my dad did. Let me tell you what my neighbor got caught doing last week. No, be a person of honor and cover it. Show mercy. That's your vaccine. That's what's going to keep you from doing the exact same thing somewhere down the road. As a parent, when somebody does something good for our children, they help restore them in a time of need. They're kind, they're forgiving, they're merciful. There's nothing we wouldn't do for that person. We'd be so grateful. We'd go out of our way to do anything that they asked. In the same way, when you stick up for one of God's children, when you defend them, when you help

restore them. When you protect a reputation, there's nothing that God won't do for you. When you are generous with your mercy, you will always have God's favor. Mercy sets the tone for blessing. My challenge for all of us, when you hear a word against your neighbor,

against your family, against your friend, be disciplined to let it die within you. If you will be a person of honor, not let people gossip around you, cover those faults, then because you choose the water and not the gasoline, just like Noah's two sons, I believe and declare you will be blessed, you will prosper, you will succeed, and you will become everything God's created you to be. Amen. Do you receive it today? We never like to close our broadcast without giving you an opportunity to make Jesus the Lord of your life. Would you pray with me? Just say,

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