Gossip & slander - the evil, the damage, the cause and the cure
What we say about others determines largely whether we remain in God’s presence
Ps 15:1-3 LORD, who may enter your Temple? Who may worship on Zion, your sacred hill? (Who can live in Your presence and in Your power?) A person who obeys God in everything and always does what is right, whose words are true and sincere, and who does not slander others. He does no wrong to his friends nor spreads rumors about his neighbors. TEV
Verse 3 TLB Anyone who refuses to slander others, does not listen to gossip, never harms his neighbor (that person lives in God’s presence and in His power)
God hates discord in the Church, He blesses unity and then the devil’s kingdom trembles
Prov 6:16 These six things the LORD hates… one who sows discord among brethren.
Ps 133:1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brethren to dwell together in unity.. For there the LORD commanded the blessing—Life forevermore
Eph 3:10 To the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places,
Webster’s dictionary definitions of gossip and slander:
Gossip: (1) What - A rumor or report of an intimate nature.
(2) Who - A person who habitually reveals personal or sensational facts.
Slander: The utterance of false charges or misrepresentations which defame and damage another’s reputation.
Some of the things that gossip does and what it reveals about the gossiper
Prov 16:28 An evil man sows strife; gossip separates the best of friends. TLB
Prov 18:8 The words of a whisperer or talebearer are as dainty morsels (to those eager to hear - maybe already having ought or envy against the victim, but); they go down (as wounds KJV) into the innermost parts of the body AMP
Prov 16:27 Evil people look for ways to harm others…their words burn with evil TEV
(idle lips are the devil’s mouthpiece TLB)
Gossipers don’t realize they’re being used by demons from which gossip comes & spreads
Eccl 10:20 Don't bad-mouth…not even under your breath…even in the privacy of your home. Loose talk has a way of getting picked up and spread around. Little birds drop the crumbs of your gossip far and wide. MESSAGE
Eph 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers…rulers of the darkness….wicked spirits in high places.
What is God’s counsel to us Christians on the subject of talking about the faults of others
Prov 11:13 He who goes about as a talebearer reveals secrets, but he who is trustworthy and faithful in spirit keeps the matter hidden. AMP
Prov 17:9 He who covers and forgives an offense seeks love, but he who repeats or harps on a matter separates even close friends. AMP
Prov 26:20 Without wood, a fire goes out; without gossip, quarreling stops TEV
Col 3:13 Bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you must do
Our flesh can’t do this how does God enable us - He gives us His nature & answers prayer
Ps 119:11 Your word (Christ) I have hidden in my heart that I will not sin against You
Ps 119:98 You, through Your commandments (God’s nature is in His words), make me wiser than my enemies, for Your words are ever before me. AMP
Ps 119:23 While bad neighbors maliciously gossip about me, I'm absorbed in pondering Your wise counsel (God’s Spirit breathed words to me) MESSAGE
2 Cor 3:17 …Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (God’s Spirit is His nature)
Ps 141:3 Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips (God inspires, by His Spirit, hears and performs the prayers of the righteous)
Ps 17:3 …I have purposed that my mouth shall not transgress (with our hearts we believe a Spirit brought truth & by His unction we say so for it to come to pass)
An amazing allegory about a lazy man’s overgrown field –our hearts are our spiritual fields
Prov 24:30-32 I went by the field of the (spiritually) lazy man, And by the vineyard of the man devoid of understanding (not full of the Holy Spirit to make God’s words known - Pro 1:23) ; And there they were, all overgrown with thorns (sharp words often uttered); Its surface was covered with nettles (prickly people that are hard to approach with truth); Its stone wall was broken down (few of God’s words within them so they have no defense against the devil) . When I saw it, I considered it well; I looked on it and received instruction:
1 Cor 3:9 …You are God's field… And His vineyard … Will we let Him plant His words?
What words? How about these words planted in our fields, our hearts – they will keep us:
1 Pet 3:10 He who would love life And see good days (and abide in Christ), Let him refrain his tongue from evil, And his lips from speaking deceit.
