Gossip

I am being convicted about this. I try to make my blogs positve, God-honoring places. If I write something that comes out kind of negative, I try to reword it, to rework it, and then post it. I often just delete posts that don't come out right, or could be taken the wrong way. I use my tongue. I want to make good use of it for God's glory.

Wrong uses of the tongue.:

Gossip

1. Proverbs 20:19
He who goes about as a slanderer reveals secrets,
Therefore do not associate with a gossip.

We are told to break off contact with gossips. That would include, I suppose, even reading gossip. That would include everything from Supermarket Tabloids to blogs where gossip is regularly featured.

2. Romans 1:29
being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips,

Here, gossip is mentioned along with murder in the list of sins that those of depraved minds engage in. Gossip seems like such an innocent passtime. However, it is really evidence of a depraved mind.

Romans 1:28-30 (New American Standard Bible)

28And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper,

29being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips,

30slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,


3. 1 Timothy 3:11
Women must likewise be dignified, not malicious gossips, but temperate, faithful in all things.

Women who freelly engage in gossip sessions are not qualified to serve in the church until and unless they deal with this sin.

4. 1 Timothy 5:12-14 13 At the same time they also learn to be idle, as they go around from house to house; and not merely idle, but also gossips and busybodies, talking about things not proper to mention.
14Therefore, I want younger widows to get married, bear children, keep house, and give the enemy no occasion for reproach;


This passage speaks for itself. Gossip is never the proper activity for a Christian woman. In our day, we can say using the telephone, emails, text messaging, blogging, or even the US postal service to spread gossip.

5. 2 Timothy 3:3
unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good,

This is a cluster of qualities that characterize men who have abandoned the faith. "Malicious gossips" is one of those. This passage from 2 Timothy shows that gossip is not just a problem that women have. Men can be just as bad. It is also one sign of apostasy.

6. Titus 2:3
Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good,

Gossip is malicious. Older women should not spend their days listening to and spreading gossip.

7. 2 Corinthians 12:20
For I am afraid that perhaps when I come I may find you to be not what I wish and may be found by you to be not what you wish; that perhaps there will be strife, jealousy, angry tempers, disputes, slanders, gossip, arrogance,



Paul hoped that when he visited the church in Corinth, they would have "cleaned up their act." He wanted them to deal with their "issues" before he came. I think that he wanted to have sweet fellowship with them, so he didn't want to have to spend his time with them just resolving conflicts that should have been resolved.

These words are sobering. There is grace offered. After all, Paul expected that the Christians in Corinth, who were well-known for their disorderly conduct, would have repented of the sins they had been engaging in.

Let us take hope from those words, and these.:

1 John 1:9 (New International Version)
9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.


Soul-searching Scriptures.