Gossip spreads poison.
What seems like an innocent comment about another
can be filled with malice.
Rarely, if ever, does gossip have zero ulterior motives.
The reason for gossip is often to make someone else look bad,
perhaps make oneself look better, to gather an army of strength
against someone who may not have been nice to you.
Gossip can also lead to extreme dissention,
an undue ruining of another person’s reputation,
whether fair or unfair, it is projecting the feelings one person has
and stirring the pot of strife so others will join in.
It’s ugly stuff.
I had a dream about gossip a long time ago.
I was walking among these hills.
When I looked closer, I saw the hills were completely made up of worms.
There were people on the hills eating the worms,
shoving the worms into their mouths, filling their faces with them.
The worms were crawling all over the people, in their hair on their bodies.
Some of them were together, talking as they ate.
I noticed if I stood, the worms got on me and I had to brush them off,
the only way to avoid them was to keep walking,
not stop to see what they were eating or talking about.
I knew from that dream that that was how the Lord saw gossip.
Gossip can be devastating, assassination of character for the victim.
Those who choose to participate in gossip
are also the warriors who build their armies,
and if they choose a victim, that victim does not stand a chance
if the other people are prone to gossip.
Strife is gossip’s sister or brother or both.
Strife and gossip run along hand in hand,
destroying and causing harm wherever they go.
I have also noticed if I choose to participate in gossip,
I am then removing myself from God’s covering in that regard.
My judgment has come quickly.
I have felt the sting on what I have given out.
This is when I have operated under the Law of Sin and Death.
My advice is to stay in the Law of Life in Christ Jesus.
These are Spiritual Laws that are set up and they cannot be avoided.
They are just.
If you find yourself succumbing to the fleshly lust of gossip or slander,
repent quickly, try to correct anything you have done
and give the whole thing to Jesus that He may fix the mess.
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free
from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:2
Ask the Lord to cleanse you and teach you
the importance of these Spiritual Laws.
If you know someone who is strong in keeping their mouths shut,
it would be good to ask them to pray for you.
I have seen people who refuse to participate.
It is an admirable trait.
Paul addressed this in the first book of Timothy:
And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house;
and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies,
speaking things which they ought not. 5 v 13
We will be held accountable for every idle word.
But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak,
they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. Matthew 12:36
Let us be quick to repent
and not participate in the evil of gossip and slander and strife.
Those things work against God and His Holy Spirit.
Working against God is an obvious grief to the Holy Spirit.
If we do what we can to keep our hands clean and our hearts pure,
that is, by keeping our sins in Jesus’ sight so He may help us,
God will fight for us against any evil others may inflict.
By seeking Jesus’ strength and wisdom,
we can remain in the Law of the Life in Christ Jesus.