A girl starts an ugly rumor about a friend whom she found kissing the boy she liked. By day’s end, the gossip has reached every corner of her middle school, and the victim was in tears that everyone now knows she’d been “making out” with this boy. She gets so upset that she hyperventilates, needs to go the school nurse’s office, and is sent home for the day. But that is not the end—the effects of this rumor might affect her for years to come.
Life seems to become so much more interesting when one can tell “juicy” details about others. We even have socially acceptable places for gossip. The beauty shop can be such a place, the water cooler at our work place and even a small group meeting for prayer can become an occasion for passing on information that is half-baked and most likely partially untrue. Even if the information is true it will be hurtful to the person who is being talked about. Truth is, we would not talk about these things if the person was present.
While it may be fun to “dish out” or hear “the dirt” on someone, God does not take gossip lightly. His Word reminds us that: “A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything–or destroy it! It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell. (James 3:5-6)
We are commanded not to engage in gossip. “Don’t talk out of both sides of your mouth; avoid careless banter, white lies, and gossip.” (Proverbs 4:24). In case we may think we are off the hook by not sharing gossip and “just listening” to it, here is another word of wisdom for us: “Listening to gossip is like eating cheap candy; do you want junk like that in your belly?” (Proverbs 26:22)
Gossip simply hurts people! Workplace gossip is probably the single most destructive behavior in which anyone in the marketplace can engage. Reputations can be destroyed in an instance. Words once they are spoken cannot be taken back. They are like feathers that have been carried by the wind into all directions and can never be gathered up again.
Here is some good advice from God’s Word how we can measure our conversation: “Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious–the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.” (Philippians 4:8)
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