Busybodies

What is wrong with gossip?

God is in charge of judging others, not us! That is His job, not ours!

Gossip indicates we are not active in our faith and in our lives. It may start as a simple conversation about someone, and then escalates quickly.

1 Timothy 5:13 – “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.”

Matthew 7:1 – “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.”

Leviticus 19:16 – “Do not go about spreading slander among your people. Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor’s life. I am the Lord.”

Proverbs 11:13 – “A gossip betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy man keeps a secret.”

Romans 1:29 – “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.”

Proverbs 18:8 – “The words of gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to a man’s inmost parts.”

If you want to avoid gossip, focus on creating helpful and encouraging statements. Let the gossip end with you. Remember the Golden Rule – if you don’t want, people to gossip about you, then don’t participate in gossip.

Matthew 7:12 – “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”

Ephesians 4:29 – “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen."

QUESTION
WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT SOMEONE SPREADING RUMOR(S) ABOUT YOU?
ANSWER
TURN THE OTHER CHEEK

This post was inspired by reading MckMama's Blog. She and her husband are in Kenya doing God's work. It is heartbreaking reading her post.

My favorite line in her post is... I am accountable to God. John Piper said in a Tweet of his in December that "if we are not hated by someone, we either don't know enough people, or we don't speak enough truth." On Judgement Day, I alone will have to answer to God for my sins. But I am not accountable to man. I will not respond to my naysayers' accusations. It is not for their approval that I live, blog, parent and breathe. It is for God's. And while I still fail time and time again, and God even uses the attacks I receive to help refine my heart, I will respond only to Him. He knows my heart, my motives, my intent. And He loves me just the same.