Proverbs 26: 20 Without
wood a fire goes out;
without a gossip a quarrel dies down.
21 As charcoal to embers and as wood to fire,
so is a quarrelsome person for kindling strife.
22 The words of a gossip are like choice morsels;
they go down to the inmost parts.
without a gossip a quarrel dies down.
21 As charcoal to embers and as wood to fire,
so is a quarrelsome person for kindling strife.
22 The words of a gossip are like choice morsels;
they go down to the inmost parts.
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“It’s ashamed what happened to INSERT NAME” was always the
start of a conversation I had no business being in. At first I stayed away
because I had been on the other side of the words many times. But I was now “in
the club” and I couldn’t pass up these juicy morsels.
- There have been times where I have joined gossip.
- There have been times where I have listened to others rant about someone else.
- There have been times where I have absorbed the strife about another person who was not present.
I could say I never actually “spread” the gossip or that I
never actually “initiated” the gossip, but listening is just as bad. What can I
do?
- GOD says to me “Wanting to hear gossip is just as bad as saying gossip.”
- GOD says to me “Love your enemies as well as your neighbors.”
- GOD says to me “Do not slander or it will fall on you.”
Spreading gossip is offensive to GOD! HE does not like when
I speak about someone in slanderous tones especially when they are not present.
If I cannot say what I have to say to their face and in front of an impartial
group, then I should not say it at all. GOD wants me to change my words from
poison to praise.
- Are you gossiping?
- Do you feel the need to talk about other people?
- Are you listening to gossip?
- Will you change your ways and encourage people instead of tearing them down?
