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In this wisdom moment, we highlight the sin of gossip, and the goal of it is to divide.
“A perverse person stirs up conflict, and a gossip separates close friends.” Proverbs 16:28
Perverse is defined as showing a deliberate and obstinate; to behave in a way that is unreasonable. When a person has a perverse heart, it separates them from others because it causes dissension.
Gossip is defined as casual or unconstrained conversation or reports about other people, typically involving details that are not confirmed as being true. As Greg puts it, gossip is something you would say behind someone’s back, but you wouldn’t say it to their face. A gossip separates close friends! A gossip will come into your life and work to divide you from others. They will tell people lies until they believe which in the end causes friendships and relationships to be destroyed much of the time. We must be careful not to have this spirit of gossip to be on us or in our lives. When someone starts to gossip you can shut it down immediately and ask that person to stop talking about that person. This is the goal of the devil is to divide! That is the definition of his name, and he sets a gossip’s tongue on fire to cause the division.
“We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check. When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.” James 3:2-10
How does a person get to the place of desiring to gossip about other people? It starts with the heart. In the words of Jesus, “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.” We can know what is in a person’s heart by what is coming out of their mouth.
If you struggle with gossip, then it needs to be seen as a sin and if you have not made a decision for Jesus to be the Lord of your life you can repent and accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior today! Jesus will forgive you for the sin of gossip. If you are already a believer and are held captive by the spirit of gossip, once you acknowledge that gossip is a sin, you can repent and turn away from that sin, and God will forgive you. Also, you would want to go back to any person that has been affected by your gossip to tell them you were wrong and even if that is not accepted by the person, God will accept that repentance.
It is important to guard our hearts and be careful what we say. We can guard our hearts by filling our hearts with the Word of God! When we have our hearts filled up with God and His Words, then we will know what is good. Then we will have good to say to others, and God’s Word also will reveal things in our lives that do not line up with what God has said so that we can deal with that sin and get it out of our heart. If you need a plan on how to spend time with God and how to read His Word you can get a free plan today at iAbide. You can start filling your heart today with the words of God! We want to hear from you! You can write to us at [email protected]. Greg, Pat, and John shared in this segment.
Courtesy of Storyblocks.com
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