What types of conversations are you having? Why make conversation if you have nothing of value to say? Are the conversations you engage in legitimate or are they contrived inventions to create mischief? What have you been listening to?
Are you a gossiper or gossipee – the transmitter or the receiver? Either way is sinful. But don’t take my word for it, take the Word in Romans 1:29 where it is described as such,
“Their lives became full of every
kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception,
malicious behavior, and gossip.” (NLT)
I recently read a quote from a rabbi about gossip,
“To which is gossip more similar, robbery or murder?
Murder, because robbers can always give back what they’ve stolen, but gossips
can never repair the damage they’ve done.”
Understand that gossip, even in small doses, can ruin lives
in unimaginable ways, yours and others. Even if you are not the one talking but
listening, it’s like stepping into a briar patch, you are bound to get
scratched. If the gossip is telling you about someone you can be sure that you
will also be their topic of gossip to someone else. Proverbs 20:19 could not be
clearer, “do not associate with a gossip”.
It is quite a temptation to engage in some juicy gossip, but
we need to resist temptation. Don’t we pray, “don’t
let us yield to temptation, but deliver us from evil”? Resisting the
temptation of gossip is to resist the devil who plants seeds of discord.
We must close our ears to those whose mission is to gossip,
refuse to entertain them, refuse to engage with them. We need to let them know
that we will not listen to anything that they have to say and send them on
their way.
The Word tells us that we are to provoke each other to love
(Hebrews 10:24) not to humiliation, shame, distrust or anger. Paul exhorts us
to be kind to one another (Ephesians 4:32).
Some people are like vultures, preying on others as if it is
their vocation. Pray and not prey. We know ourselves. If you are the gossip, pray
instead of prey. Pray that God will put out the fire of contention that rages
in your heart and stoke the fire of compassion towards others instead.
This world is full of gossips, persons who love to cause
strife and sadly they are sitting in the pews. Church attendees who have
mastered the art of “shoo-shooing”. Whispering into the ears of other pew
fillers who enjoy the idle chatter. Solomon, in his book of Wisdom, describes
it as a perversion.
“A perverse man sows strife, And a
whisperer separates the best of friends.” – Proverbs 16:28 (NKJV)
These misinformed news carriers, it would seem, have skipped
over Romans 12:2 like a professional hurdler,
“Don’t copy the behaviour and
customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing
the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is
good and pleasing and perfect.” (NLT)
Gossiping is a hindrance to your spiritual walk. It sews
discord among the brethren (Proverbs 6:19). The Lord will not inhabit a heart
that is full of slander and strife with His Presence.
Beloved, we have been commissioned to spread the Gospel, good
news, not gossip, bad news so, let us repent of gossip, turn away from this
awful malaise and follow a new course.
Amen †
Shelley Johnson “Let us Repent of...Gossip“ © March 23, 2025
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