A perverse man stirs up dissension,
and a gossip separates close friends
and a gossip separates close friends
- Proverbs 16:28
A gossip betrays a confidence;
so avoid a man who talks too much.
so avoid a man who talks too much.
- Proverbs 20:19
The words of a gossip are like choice morsels;
they go down to a man's inmost parts.
they go down to a man's inmost parts.
- Proverbs 26:22
If that's not enough to make you think gossiping is a sin, several of Paul's warnings are downright crystal-clear and bullet-proof against misinterpretation.
For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be. I fear that there may be quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder.
- 2 Corinthians 12:20
They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips,
- Romans 1:29
Besides, they get into the habit of being idle and going about from house to house. And not only do they become idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying things they ought not to.
1 Timothy 5:13
Personally, my feeling is that gossip's like the tides: Gossip and malicious talk don't flow in one direction away from shore, but can be counted on to reverse course and bring currents back to the point of departure.
My impression is that gossip's a sin not because it's habit-forming, infectious or because It's So Much Fun! or because gossip often amounts to little more than slander and lying.
The simple truth is that gossip reveals a sinful nature and destroys our witness as followers of Christ ... no matter who it's directed against.
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