The reality is gossip is ALWAYS destructive. The Bible has much to say about it. I have often said that there is one cancer that I have seen destroy churches more than ANYTHING else, and this is it. A gossip is a coward. Unwilling to face people honestly, they destroy them behind their back, one devious sentence at a time.

“The words of a whisperer are like dainty morsels, and they go down into the innermost parts of the body.” (Proverbs 18:8)

Gossip is delicious. It gives the gossiper a sense of power, making them feel they are above others. It’s like the last chocolate you’ve been saving in the Whitman’s Sampler box, but it’s filled with a bittersweet filling.

To be receptive to gossip is also delicious, making you feel like you’ve gotten the “inside scoop” and knowledge others do not have. If you have a heart that receives this, others will sense that and bring it to you. Don’t be proud if everyone brings you gossip, thinking you have a wonderful, listening heart. What you probably have is a proud and duplicitous heart, and others sense that they can dump gossip at your door, and you’ll gladly take it in and pass it on.

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