no gossip shall fall.

ugliness has a definition.

gos·sip (gsp)

n.

1. Rumor or talk of a personal, sensational, or intimate nature.

2. A person who habitually spreads intimate or private rumors or facts.

3. Trivial, chatty talk or writing.

intr.v. gos·siped, gos·sip·ing, gos·sips

To engage in or spread gossip.

the 411 on gossip.

- God holds everyone accountable for words spoken.
- Gossip always contributes to a problem, not a solution.
- Gossip distorts and exaggerates the truth.
- Gossip is rarely reliable information.
- Gossip relies heavily on secrecy.
- Gossiping is another form of judging someone else.


gossiping.

There's something about gossip that just makes my hair stand on end. It gets to me, like a hang nail. Something that needs to be clipped, immediately. Or it will bother me enough to pick at it.

Okay, that was probably gross.

If I stopped to think about it, no matter how much it may irritate me when others do the same, I am also to blame. Honestly, I participate more than I should. Even though I know it is neither edifying nor encouraging to do so. It's an easy trap to fall into, and I do it often.

There's this verse in the Bible that cautions against trying to pick at the splinter in another person's eye when you have a telephone pole lodged in yours. (Matthew 7:3)

Okay, it doesn't say that exactly, but it might as well have.

If I want to tell someone else about a problem I have with people in general, I should examine myself first. I am not a saint in this capacity. It is a very real struggle for me to be nice to people who I know gossip about me behind my back.

There's this other verse in the Bible that says I am to love that person or persons who do not treat me with any consideration. I'm not sure how that strikes you, but it's a hard one for me to swallow!

Only God can give that kind of forgiveness to me. I am thankful for His mercy in my life. I do not deserve it, weak as I am.


what the Bible has to say.

There is much to think about and less to say after reading the following verses:

Psalm 101:5
Proverbs 11:12-13
Proverbs 16:28
Proverbs 18:8
Matthew 12:36-37
Galatians 6:7-10
James 4:11


advice.

1. I recently read this post online by a God-fearing contributor, alias Grey Tower:

"Sometimes we have to be cruel to be kind, and it may be that you need to disassociate yourself from these people, but first speak to them about their conduct, and try to help them see the error of their ways. Stand by your Christian principles and pray they might come to their senses."

2. Published author and Orthodox Jew, Naomi Alderman, writes:

"Our sages warn us often against the perils of gossip: ‘lashon hara’ which means, literally, an evil tongue. Certainly, it is forbidden to spread false tales. Is this not bearing false witness – an action forbidden in the ten utterances from Mount Sinai? And as it is forbidden to speak false tales, so it is forbidden to listen to them, for he who speaks and he who listens both sin against the name of the Lord.

"One of our sages rebuked a woman who had spread gossip. He gave her a pillow and instructed her to take it to the top of the highest building in town and shake out its feathers to the four winds. The woman did so.

"Then the sage said to her, 'Now go and gather up all of those feathers which you have scattered.' The woman cried out that the task was impossible.

" 'Ah,' said the sage, 'how much easier, though, than gathering up the tales you have spread.'

"Easier to cause a mountain to skip like a lamb than to retrieve an evil story once it has passed the guard of our lips."

3. I guess this post really is on guarding the mind. I will leave you with another quote, for whom the author is unknown:

Watch your thoughts, they become words.
Watch your words, they become actions.
Watch your actions, they become habits.
Watch your habits, they become your character.
Watch your character, it becomes your destiny.

May the words of my heart please you, O Lord.