Weekly Devotional

 

Gossip
Anonymous Author

 

My name is gossip
I have no respect for justice.
I maim without killing.
I break hearts and ruin lives.

I am cunning and malicious aand gather strength with age.
The more I am quoted, the more I am believed.
I flourish at every level of society.
My victims are helpless.

They cannot protect themselves against me because I have no name
and no face.
To track me down is impossible for you.
The harder you try, the more elusive I become.

I am nobody's friend.
Once I tarnish a reputation, it is never the same.
I topple governments and wreck marriages.
I ruin careers and cause sleepless nights, heartache and indigestion.

I spawn suspicion and generate grief.
I make innocent people cry in their pillows.
Even my name hisses. I am called Gossip.
Office gossip. Shop gossip. Party gossip. Telephone gossip.

I make headlines and headaches.
Before you repeat a story ask yourself, is it true?
Is it fair? Is it necessary? If not -- KEEP IT TO YOURSELF!
If you spend as much time praying as you do talking about others behind their backs,
You would be further ahead spiritually.

 

 

As women, I feel like we all at some point in our lives have struggled with gossip. I learned a valuable lesson one day when I engaged in gossip about another person only to realize that a friend of hers was sitting right behind me and I did not know it. The fact that I had spread gossip about the person ate me up inside. I felt so horrible. I left my friend that day and thought, "Why did I do that? Why did I feel the need to tell those things about that other person?" It wasn't that I got caught, but being caught definitely brought to light the destruction of gossip and the power of it to spread and tear apart friendships and lives.

 

I thought later that day, "Even though I thought I was alone spreading this gossip, I wasn't alone. God was there. He heard the gossip, too. And I am sure he shook his head because I knew better. I am a Christian. I know better." Why do we engage in gossip? I asked some friends this and told them to be honest. These were some responses?

 

Sometimes we just need to get things off our chest to somebody who will listen because we are mad at someone.

 

Sometimes we really do want to say something bad about someone else because we just don't like the person.

 

Sometimes we know someone is living in sin and we feel like other people should know about it so they can pray for them.

 

Sometimes we know the person has a bad reputation anyway so we just think it doesn't matter.

 

Sometimes we are carrying a burden because people have confided in us and we just want someone else's opinion on how to deal with a situation.

 

Sometimes people really do want to hurt others.

 

Sometimes our lives are just mundane and when one of our friends tells us something going on with someone else we just want to tell it- kind of like a t.v. show- it's just entertaining for our lives.

 

One friend said, "I have no idea. Maybe we enjoy it."

 

I look over these and I admit that I have justified something I have said in some way as in some of these answers. None of these is a good reasonto gossip. There are no good reasons to gossip. What does the Bible say about gossip?

 

Proverbs 16:27-28 Scoundrels hunt for scandal;their words are a destructive blaze. A troublemaker plants seeds of strife;gossip separates the best of friends.

 

Proverbs 20:19 A gossip tells secrets, so don't hang around with someone who talks too much.

 

Proverbs 26:20 Fire goes out for lack of fuel, and quarrels disappear when gossip stops.

 

Psalm 140:3 they make their tongues as sharp as a serpent's the poison of vipers is on their lips.

 

The scripture text that convicts me is in Matthew 12:36 spoken by our savior, "But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted and by your words you will be condemned."

 

I needed this lesson this week and I hope you have benefitted from it as well. I encourage you to further study this in your daily Bible study and pray about it.

 

Ladies, let us work very, very hard not to engage in gossip. Repent if we have failed in this area and strive to tame our tongues. Let's roll our words around in our mouths and taste them first to see if they are good before sharing them with others.

 

Margie