The Destructiveness of Gossip

Today’s morning Spurgeon devotional discusses Leviticus 19:16-17:

Leviticus 19:16-17 NIV

(16)  "'Do not go about spreading slander among your people. "'Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor's life. I am the LORD.

(17)  "'Do not hate your brother in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in his guilt.

Spurgeon correctly notes that three are affected by gossip: the speaker, the listener, and the person being spoken about. I was reminded this past weekend that three is a sacred number in Christianity so his listed three persons had additional meaning for me.

It’s human to err and human to gossip but we don’t have to give into our baser nature. In my middle years I am more aware of my faults and put more effort into combatting them. As far as gossiping, yes, I made some big blunders in my youth. The one that changed my ways was when I was working in Chicago and a co-worker told me something crazy her husband said that she just couldn’t understand why he said that. She specifically asked me NOT to tell my husband.

I could not offer her an immediate explanation for her husband’s behavior so told her I’d think about it and get back to her. After a couple days, I still couldn’t figure out what his deal was and wondered if it was simply a “guy” thing. I then made a choice to break my promise and ask my husband what he thought foolishly assuming he would never meet either of them.

Well, as luck would have it, my boss threw a party at her home and guess what happened? Yep. Ron made a crack about the topic (to this day, I don’t remember exactly what the “it” was) and he gave his wife a look, she gave me a look, I gave Ron a look. She never spoke to me again. And, I deserved it.

So, I word of advice from someone who suffered from her own folly: keep promises and divulge nothing until death parts you from this earth.

Amen.