Why should we stop gossiping? Great question! Let’s talk.
Now we’re not ones to go around spreading rumors-really we’re just not the gossipin’ kind…
no you’ll never hear one of us repeating gossip….so you better be sure to listen close the first time….
Credit: The Hee-Haw Honeys
If you want to be forgiven for gossiping or other wrong things you have done, please watch this video and follow the steps on the page. You can experience a brand new life starting today!!
Sticks and Stones? Words do Hurt
This little ditty is funny. It’s clever to find something humorous about gossip because there’s nothing good about gossip; it devastates people! It’s a potent weapon, and its destructive power is underestimated. We’ve all heard the saying about sticks and stones, but we all know it’s a lie. Words do hurt. I’d prefer sticks and stones than endure slander and gossip.
“The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the body (Ephesians 4:29).”
Bullying and the Will to Live
A Damaged Reputation
Once a person’s reputation is damaged, how can they live a happy and productive life? Gossip is a form of bullying, and the victim of gossip can lose the will to live. The following is one example:
Hamed Nastoh (1985–2000), age 14, was an Afghan-Canadian high school student who ended his life by jumping off the Pattullo Bridge, in British Columbia. Hamed, a 9th grade student at Enver Creek Secondary School in Surrey, British Columbia, left a 5 page note for his family which detailed the harassment he received from his peers. A student stated that “Everyone gets bullied. But this went too far. We stood up for him, but people couldn’t get the hint that this went too far….” One of Hamed’s last penned wishes was “for people to stop harassing each other and to realize that teasing is hurtful.” [37]
Credit: List of suicides attributed to bullying – Wikipedia
Have you, the gossiper, been in the other person’s shoes? Do you know what’s happening in their life? Do you know what their limit is? Do you want to contribute to damaging someone, even to the point of no return?
If you have been hurt by gossip and need help, please fill out the form here and we will contact you.
If you are having thoughts of suicide, please call or text the number below.
National Suicide Hotline
988
If you want to be forgiven for gossiping or other wrong things you have done, please watch this video and follow the steps on the page. You can experience a brand new life starting today!!
“A talebearer reveals secrets, but he who is of a faithful spirit conceals the matter (Proverbs 11:13).”
Conceal It
You can’t control other people’s gossip. And if you’re the victim, it’s almost impossible to defend yourself. But, if the gossip is about someone else, you can do your best to conceal it. When you do this, you’re a source of love, a tree of life to that person. Sometimes, a rebuke is in order depending on your relationship with the gossiper. Do what you’d want someone to do when they hear gossip about you.
“You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, nor shall you stand by while the life of your neighbor is in danger: I am the Lord (Leviticus 19:16).”
Slander is Murder?
Slander and gossip don’t always literally put the victim’s life in danger. Still, God sees any false witness against someone as an attack on that person’s life. It’s a form of hate, and Jesus equates that hatred with its ultimate outcome: murder. In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus made the connection. Just as lusting is the same as committing adultery in your heart, hating someone is murder (Matthew 5:21-28). The Apostle John agreed, saying, “Whoever hates his brother is a murderer (1 John 3:15).”
Gossip Damages for Life
Empathy or Cruelty?
My mother, RIP, grew up in a small town with a population of about six hundred. So, everybody knew everybody, and everybody knew everybody’s business. The local paper even printed stories about who in the community visited someone or if someone visited them. I don’t know what happened; she never said. But she must have been a victim of gossip.
My dad, RIP, grew up in a small town a few miles from hers. Whenever my parents discussed where they wanted to retire, she—with emotion—insisted on not returning to a rural environment. I’m not putting more blame on the rural setting. The gossip happens most wherever the climate is self-contained, a small world. It can be the workplace, a social group of any kind, the parents in children’s sports, or any other limiting group.
Scarred for Life
Many people struggled with the gossip associated with high school cliques. And those same people are scarred for life because students got ahead by trampling on others.
So, Why Should We Stop Gossiping?
Do we want to murder people or love them and enhance their lives? Do we want to advance evil or have a faithful spirit? To serve God or the devil?
If you want to find out how you can know God, please watch the GREAT NEWS FOR YOU Video on this page.
