Talking bad about people behind their backs has so many benefits. It makes me feel smart and righteous. When I’m on a gossip roll, I can triple the size of my ego in just a couple of minutes! And that’s fun!
Gossip is easy too. It doesn’t require the effort of some other sins. (If you’ve ever planned a bank heist or a murder, you know what I mean.) I don’t need to do any research to make sure what I’m saying is true. Gossip just needs to be “juicy”. I’m pretty good with words so I can make up gossip on the fly. I don’t need notes!
And gossip is legal. Rumors are not controlled substances. I can assassinate anyone’s character without consequence. Gossip is a concealed weapon that requires no permit.
So gossip is definitely my favorite despicable thing. The only times I’m not sold out to gossip…is when it happens to me.
When gossip happens to me, I’m quick with this:
“Those who consider themselves religious and do not keep a tight reign on their tongues deceive themselves and their religion is worthless.”
James 1:26
“Whoever conceals hatred with lying lips and spreads slander is a fool.”
Proverbs 10:18
“A perverse person stirs up conflict, and a gossip separates close friends.”
Proverbs 16:28
There’s nothing like a dose of my own medicine to remind me of what’s true. Gossip is poison. It hurts people. I can show you the wounds it inflicts. And while I’m telling you the sad story of how I’ve been mistreated, I see the blood trails on the floor from the victims of my gossip sprees. Gossip turns me into a child with a butcher knife.
There is no place for gossip in the Church. My words are supposed to build you up. My words are supposed to nudge you toward God. Everything I say is supposed to be truth. Speech that is not truth is evil. It is sin.
God, forgive me.
14 Responses
Is it just me or does feel like when your a little kid all the adults in your life tell you not gossip, but when your older it just gets looked over like a minor sinyears actually only thirteen and no one has told me not to gossip in years.
Sounds about right to me.
Why do you think that is.
Gossip is so common we don’t think it’s wrong anymore.
So just like what we’ve done to telling lies.
P.S I’m a huge fan of the Peaches podcast.
Woot!! š
LOL š¤£
I ignored that comment hoping you wouldn’t see it.
You can’t hide the truth John.
I wasn’t trying to hide the truth. I was trying to ignore it.
But by ignoring the truth you were attempting to hide it from someone. Therefore you tried to hide it.
No wonder you’re such a fan of The Peaches…
Thanks….I think.
Yes! I struggle with this, too! I was bemoaning this sin, this very morning, and apologizing to God. I try hard to to keep my tongue tamed, even literally biting it, and yet it bursts out a few times each month. I want to be gentle, kind and encouraging. I also feel guilty for trash-talking the āPh.D. in Literatureā on your blog.
I donāt know how to handle some circumstances, some people. I know it was right when I warned someone today away from a doctor who killed a friend, through sheer incompetence. Another person standing with us agreed, saying she warns everyone away from the āCrazy Ladyā.
I also angrily slandered a family member to my Spouse. This person is endangering a dependent by panting lustfully after an adulterous creep who cheated on her decades ago. The creep is āseparatedā from his wife and is chatting up my relative who is swooning over his cheesy pick-up lines. Short of hiring a P.I. there doesnāt seem to be anything more I can do to long-distance slap this person out of her seduced heat, nor save the dependent.
Iām not used to being angry, and itās hard for me to know how to be angry and sin not.
Being angry with a doofus seems to be my weak spot when it comes to gossiping/slandering.
I donāt get any kicks from regular gossip: I like encouraging people. When I get angry, though…. I am sooo tempted… it helps ease the anger, but I still donāt feel better, because now I feel bad/guilty for talking about someone in other than glowing terms.
Iām confused about it, especially since Christ called some Pharisees āPit Vipersā, and other unkind terms.
I am also confused because some old bags in the church love to gossip and gloat when any misfortune falls on others., yet these are the ones who feel they are great paragons of virtue.
Iām confused about atheists.
God is easy to understand and love. For me, people (including those who say āLord, Lordā) are not.
Thank you for sharing your struggle: I donāt feel quite as alone in my own.
In the words of Tiny Tim,āMay God bless us, everyone.ā
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