Gossip?
Wednesday, May 6th, 2009Last week at Summit we posed the question, “Is the Bible relevant to your life?”
There was some great feedback and the conversation went quickly to what the Bible says about gossip. So what is gossip and why is it something to avoid?
Gossip is defined by the dictionary as “casual or unconstrained conversation or reports about other people, typically involving details that are not confirmed as being true.” Basically, gossip is spreading lies about other people behind their back. It’s a common, everyday habit for many people. So why should you avoid it?
Gossip hurts people and keeps the fire of conflict roaring. Proverbs says,
“Fire goes out without wood,
and quarrels disappear when gossip stops.” (26:20)
When we gossip about people we ensure that our relationship with them will be hurt. But when we stop gossiping, that is when we stop telling other people lies about others, quarrels go away. There is nothing to fuel the fire if we don’t talk badly about people behind their backs.
Take a dinner and talk about this as a family. Do you find yourself gossiping about others? How do you feel when people gossip about you? Do you know when others are gossiping about you? How do you want to be treated? Do you treat others that way?