I recently read this and I got a good laugh out of it. “I heard some gossip about me the other day so I did some checking around. It turned out it wasn’t true.” You’ve got to admit that’s funny. I suppose since there is so little funny about gossip it didn’t take much to have a little humor about it. The reality is that gossip is usually painful, dangerous and can even be deadly. A lot of gossip is born of jealousy and jealousy, as ugly as it is, has at times led to betrayal and great loss for the one gossiped about. Back.in 2018 the Pope, in pointing out the importance of the 8th commandment,”You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor”, authored a short article titled, “Gossip kills and those who gossip are terrorists.” Pretty harsh but also a great way of emphasizing the powerful truth found throughout scripture. A few years ago some vicious gossip was spread about a close friend and they found it incredibly frustrating to hear whispers of it. Thankfully, as I always knew it would, it eventuate died out as it ran into people who knew them. I’m fairly certain we have all experienced this same type of thing to varying degrees. It is all too common. That is why gossip is listed with the sins in Romans 1 that include some really ugly stuff. Suffice it to say that God hates gossip. There is no benefit or possible good outcome for a gossip. Today when you hear or are tempted to join in gossip don’t, just don’t. #BeTheEdge
“keep your tongue from evil and your lips from telling lies.” Psalms 34:13 NIV
