THE COVENANT OF A GOOD REPORT

By Dr. Don Meecha

There are very few people who can truly identify when they are receiving an evil/bad or a negative report.  It is so easy to receive a bad report from some one, because we are not trained today to reject negative statements when they arise.  What is an evil/bad, or just a plain old flat out negative report?  People receive a bad report when they listen to, and/or receive, unfavourable information about another person, persons or a group of people.  This negative information received may or may not be true and individuals have the responsibility as God’s children not to lie, nor spread rumours & gossip (1 Corinthians 10:5-11).

God gives His children a protective spiritual defence to warn them about spiritual contamination.  In order to utilize this warning system properly one must be in the Word daily.  As  prayer, reading and studying the Scriptures take place the believer feeds on divine things and the Ruach HaKodesh, or the Holy Spirit then is able to alert when danger is near.

How do you detect the carrier of an evil report?  The carrier of an evil report will test your spirit and you will find your sanctification being tested as well.  The carrier of an evil or bad report will begin by seeing if you will actually listen to what they have to say and generally they beat around the bush of the topic to see what you know.  Then they will allow a bit of negativity out testing your spirit and seeing if you will take the bait.  Any encouragement on your part will automatically lead them to give a bad report.  Your acceptance will immediately be checked and a carrier of an evil/bad report will respond with more and varying negative comments and before you know it you will have the whole story, slanted of course on your carrier’s perspective only.

Sometimes you receive negative reports because you ask for evil or bad information about others.  Yes, you may flat out ask for a bad report.  A negative information carrier may and will increase your curiosity with negative statements if you are open to such comments. Other times you may be asked for your personal council and be dragged into a situation unaware.  When the carrier of an evil/bad report communicates negative information to you while seeking advice, the one receiving the information most often then has a tendency to feel obligated to help this individual, thus, helping the carrier by carrying their offense.  This always leads to trouble.  You then become either the political & religious Don Quixote chasing the windmills of the report carrier’s mind, or you may be more like the nurse Clara Barton seeking to save someone, anyone, and any cause is good enough, but this only leads to a vicious cirle of works. Remember, the carrier of an evil/bad report will be looking for your sympathy, or admiration in order to get you on their side of the situation.  An evil/bad report is given at times to build the ego of a person who wants to be treated as if they have privileged information or have been offended and they did not deserve it.   These individuals will give vivid details and you must remember that God condemns detectives of darkness whose tongue are as sharp as swords.

So, how do you detect an evil report?  There are five simple questions to ask yourself before listening to someone who wants our help with a problem or wishes to share information that we are not aware of the full content: First, “What is your reason for telling me?” You ask this question because spreading gossip compounds the problem.  Second you ask, “Where did you get your information?” Because, if the carrier will not identify the source it is a sure sign of an evil/bad report and they do not have the permission to use this information.  Third, you ask, “Have you gone to those directly involved?”  This is because truly spiritual people do not expose an offender, rather they restore them.  The fourth, the question that must be asked is, “Have you personally checked all the facts?”  Remember that facts become distorted when not balanced with all of the truth, or when given with negative motives.  Lastly, the carrier of the evil/bad report will cringe when you ask, “Can I quote you on this?”  Evil/bad report givers often claim they are misquoted, yet they will not readily give permission to attach their name as the source.  This is because they are truly evil trouble makers and wish to continue in the negativity of what they do to others.