Sept 27th, 2020: Gossiping is a Relfection of A Damaged Heart
When we walk into a room when people are having a lively conversation, and suddenly everyone stops and stays quiet. We know that very moment that they were talking about us. It is not a very comfortable feeling because we want to get mad and yet don't want to give these people too much power over us by doing so.
Gossiping is more common than we are willing to acknowledge. We experience that within families, churches, and workplaces. Sometimes gossips take place because we don't dare to face the conflict head-on.
One of my favorite Bible verses about avoiding gossiping comes from Ephesians 4:29: "Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear."
There is a strong correlation between experiencing the grace of God and building one another up. Sometimes we start a corrupt talk because we find ourselves in disagreement with someone. Gossip has its root in a prideful heart in many ways. We hated being wrong and resent the damage when others tell us so. It is a reflection of a damaged heart.
Grace produces grace, and the opposite is also true. Gossiping produces destruction. Gossiping does not build our friends up, doesn't create healthy family interaction, and does not help the church to be the manifestation of God's mercy and love for the world. It is actually cowardice.
We think we communicate by gossiping. We stop all forms of meaningful communication by doing so. We enter the territory of destroying one another in the name of righteousness. Gossip sometimes is a by-product of self-righteousness. The best way to stop gossiping is to understand that all of us only know in part, and therefore we respond in part. In some ways, it requires us to live in tension. We need others although we might disagree with them.
