Joan Boney ... apostle/prophet
Sometimes you will be talking with a person and before you know what happened you end up getting drawn into their problems ... They tell you a "sensational" happening. You jump in and comment and it is like quicksand as you get deeper and deeper into a story which ends us in their problems and you find you are sorry you ever took part in the conversation.
I was asking God how to avoid that type of thing and I was reminded of the following instruction.
I Tim. 5:22 ... neither be partaker of other men’s sins: keep thyself pure.
Pastors from around the world sent me email when my email address was printed on the Internet blog. At first I looked forward to what they would say of God. But they weren't speaking of God. They were telling me of their "good" works and trying to get me to send money. Finally, I removed my email address.
I still get US postal from individuals and so-called pastors from time to time. When it is from an individual, I open the envelop, usually, and shake it to seen if anyone has sent an offering. There never has yet been an offering. I throw away their letter unread for it is most likely that they want something from me and they are out of line in doing this for it is God they should be turning to. If someone sent an offering, they might have an heart toward God. But just to send a "letter" likely can't be a good thing and I do not want to partake of their many problems. They want to make me into their god and I do not want to be their god.
I know two women who love sensational stories. One is my cousin. I just stopped communicating with her. These women delight in some story which they puff up into a really big thing but all the time they know what they are going to do and they have a way of drawing me into their words which are really sin and sensationalism. One had to do with a problem with her house. She told me the problem and told me how her friend said such and such which I saw as nonsense and unfortunately I jumped into the conversation. All the time she already had the answer to the problem. She was just presenting the problem because it seemed so sensational. She especially likes to tell how someone wronged her. God told me this woman is "self-righteous", thinking herself to be right and others wrong.
When I jump in, I feel I have sinned or I feel I am being pulled off track and an no longer "pure" ... Pure for me is remaining untroubled in thought so I can hear the messages that are from the Spirit of God. We have to work to keep ourselves pure. So we have to learn to recognize these things they say and refuse to partake with our words, keeping ourselves to God.