The following article is from my dear friend George T. And it contains some very wise advice on the dangers of gossip.
You’ll Never Guess What I Heard!
Acts 21
This saying will likely garner the attention of all but the most disciplined people!
Spoken in many different ways, it is a secret definition of gossip. Proverbs 18:8 says, “The words of a gossip are like dainty morsels: they go down into a person‘s innermost parts.”
Those morsels seem delicious to many people, and they readily devour them. They do not realize or ignore that those morsels are like dynamite or poison. At some point, those morsels can cause irreparable damage to or the death of relationships.
The Book of Acts relates a story of the Apostle Paul’s journey to Jerusalem. Though innocent of any transgression against the Church of Jesus, or the Hebrew faith, their beliefs, and practices, someone started a rumor (gossip) regarding Paul. That rumor infuriated many people. That resulted in unrest and chaos in the City of Jerusalem and physical harm to Paul.
Recently, I became aware of some gossip about a dear friend. I had the opportunity to ask my friend about the basis for the gossip. While not repeating what I had heard, I phrased my questions so that I could verify that the gossip was false.
What concerned me was the possible damage the gossip could cause to my friend, his reputation, his family, his friends, or his employment.
What should a person do when handed such a morsel of” apparent truth?”
We should ask the gossiper, “Where did you get your information?” and step two ask, “How do you know that to be true?”
Most likely, people will tell you the morsel(s) came from a “reliable or trustworthy” source. You may be a gossip if you do not have first-hand knowledge of a situation. As such, you are in danger of destroying a relationship(s)!
Step three is to let the story end with you. In other words, don’t repeat what you heard, even if it could be true.
An important thing to consider when “You hear something” is “Do I even need this information, and will it edify the person or persons if I repeat it?” If we consider that part of our responsibility before Christ is to build up the body (the people it contains), will repeating what you hear achieve that goal or help fulfill that responsibility?
Just sayin. GT