One minute read.
Daily Reading: 2 Kings 18:13-19:37. Acts 21:1-17, Psalm 149:1-9, Proverbs 18:8
Daily Verse: “The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels; they go down into the inner parts of the body.” Prov. 18:8
Choice morsels.
Listening to tidbits of delicious, ill-gotten information about someone else doesn’t please the Lord. I remember how quickly stories flew up and down the East Coast during my flight attendant days. We would land in Charlotte, someone on the crew would learn a juicy morsel, and by the time we landed in D.C., it had spread like wildfire throughout the entire company.
But God doesn’t want us spreading gossip or misinformation that harms another person. Instead, when we hear something that qualifies as gossip, we should stop it.
One of the most harmful experiences I had with gossip happened at church. A convicted felon, awaiting appeal, attending church on probation became the center of the hurtful words. Everyone talked behind the person’s back. While the individual thought no one knew, everyone did. Eventually, the truth came out, and much harm occurred.
Gossip hurts the person and the people doing it. Don’t engage; stop others when they try to tell you something. And do your best to avoid the vicious circle of gossip.
Lord, forgive us for gossiping. Please help us do better by avoiding vicious rumors and stopping people from telling us things we don’t need to know. Let us speak uplifting and encouraging words only. IJNIP. Amen
