How To Deal With Gossip

Well, this is so complicated that it’s a simple 3 word answer. Don’t Do It. Not to mention it just sounds like a nasty word.

However, it is easier said than done. Especially if we harbor ill feelings like jealousy, envy and resentment toward a person. Perhaps we find that our feelings and actions are justified and you tell yourself it’s okay to gossip. It’s not okay because thinking this way causes you more pain and starts a vicious cycle fueled by negativity. It begins to gain more momentum until it feels uncontrollable and before you know it there is someone else looking back at you in the mirror. Exactly where the enemy wants you and as someone whose heart reflects these verses:

Romans 1:29-32 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

Ouch. Gossips are lumped in with God-haters filled with every kind of wickedness. That hurts and seems a bit extreme, doesn’t it? If you think about it, the same God who made you, made the person you are talking about. That same God loves that person just as much as He loves you. If you claim to love God, how can we hurt someone made in His image?

It’s so hard when we get wrapped up in situations that life has thrown on our path and we forget that our tongue is the most damaging weapon we have. We can speak life and we can bless or we can speak death and curse. Our words have a powerful way of coming to life and reflecting who we are and what we stand for. Words have the ability to affect our mind and spirit in a way that taints us if we allow ourself to use them to speak death and destroy our spirit.

Proverbs 18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.

Proverbs 15:4 The soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit.

I am guilty and you probably are too. I have gossiped, I have listened to gossip, and I have allowed someone’s gossip to influence my thoughts about a person. Isn’t it ironic when they turn out to be a perfectly wonderful human being?

There I owned it. I have prayed and asked for forgiveness for my transgressions. I’m not perfect because I am made of human flesh like you but if I am around gossip, my spirit feels uneasy and it’s a situation I want to avoid. Why? Because I’ve been on both sides. I know what it feels like to be the one being gossiped about. I know God allowed the tables to turn so that I would experience the other side of it. Even though it was painful and friends were lost, I thank Him because he extended me mercy so I could correct my behavior. He showed me that I don’t want to be that kind of person and He fixed my heart. He can fix yours too! You just have to ask Him.

Luke 6:45 A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.

It is important to speak life, show love and kindness especially in today’s society. Hearts are filled with ugly characteristics that want to hurt others. The rewards of being kind are far more greater than the alternative.

I will leave you with this verse:

Ephesians 4:29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

Xoxo,