'Busybodies who talk nonsense, saying things they ought not to.' 1 Timothy 5:13
The Bible says gossip is nothing less than 'meddling in other people's business' (1 Timothy 5:13). Jon Zens says: 'I have watched friends and... families suffer untold pain because of gossip...[the] information someone dumps on you without your consent and consent of the person [involved]. [It] can be true, partially true, or completely false. It can be motivated by good intentions, but it always contains negative... information... [and colours] people's perceptions of [someone] unjustly. The person being torn down is out of the loop [because] talebearers usually avoid speaking directly to the one they are demeaning.'
Set the standard for your own life by evaluating people based on your experience with them, not on what somebody else says. Second-hand information is notoriously unreliable and misleading, and it violates Christ's command to 'treat others as you want them to treat you' (Matthew 7:12). Rumours and innuendos may seem innocent and come to you subtly, but even if someone isn't operating in malice, their motive is irrelevant. Spreading gossip defies walking in love and always expecting 'the best' in others (1 Corinthians 13:7).
A.W. Tozer said, 'Never pass anything on...that will hurt [somebody]. "Love covers over a multitude of sins" (1 Peter 4:8), and the talebearer has no place in God's favour. If you know something that would hurt one of God's children...take it out...bury it and say, "Here lies in peace the story about my brother." God will take care of it.'
Comentarios