“My friend loves to go to the doughnut shop. I often tell him that it isn’t the doughnut shop, that its name is a misnomer and should be called the gossip shop. …and actually my re-naming of that shop has caught on and others use it now. I caution him about entering into conversation that is gossip and that God warns us in His Word not to participate in such. Our Father has a lot to say about talebearing. In His Word, we read:
“A talebearer revealeth secrets: but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter.” Proverbs 11:13
“The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.” Proverbs 18:8
“Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people:…..” Leviticus 19:8
“A froward man soweth strife: and a whisperer separateth chief friends.” Proverbs 16:28
As I once heard. “Gossiping tongues would not get very far if there were not so many gossipy ears.”
I am asked at work on many occasions if I know this or that and my answer is always the same. No I don’t know, nor do I want to. I tell them that I don’t know the situation, nor the facts and participating in gossip can hurt where we least expect it. …and I have known several cases where people did participate in gossip about various things and then they came to find out the story was false. That is precisely why we should not gossip nor listen to gossip. It is a dangerous activity in which the Christian should never participate.
“Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!” James 3: 5
“But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.”
James 3:8-10
Only participate in those conversations that build people up and not tear them down and in the end, if they gossip to you, they will gossip about you.
“I am more deadly than the screaming shell of the cannon. I win without killing. I tear down homes, break hearts, and wreck lives. I travel on the wings of the wind. No innocence is strong enough to intimidate me. I have not regard for truth, no respect for justice, no mercy for the defenseless. My victims are as numerous as the sands of the sea and often as innocent. I never forget and seldom forgive. My name is Gossip.”
Eileen Light