Choice morsels are so good. They are like those cheesecake bites I find in the frozen section or those jalepeno poppers with melted cheese oozing down the middle. They are awesome snacks, bite sized and I can pick them up anytime.
The same with gossip.
It feels good to gossip about others because- well… it is not us.
I have been on both sides of the nasty gossip line. Proverbs 18:8 says, “The words of a gossip are like choice morsels, they go down to the inmost parts”(NIV)
It is not about you yet you talk about someone else in a negative manner and you do not care because perhaps you feel they deserve their demise.
Or, maybe it is not that simple.
I will admit, I did not know gossip included telling other people’s business. I was not trying to hurt anyone, but the fact is other people now know their dirty secrets and afterwards I felt terrible.
A similar example is what happened in my family when my husband and I began to struggle financially. I heard through the gossip line the hurtful things that grown people with Ph.Ds and minister backgrounds have said about me and I died inside. I did not know that hate could feel like a gunshot wound.
But it does.
No one knew the true story of our life, and if they did would that have stopped them from saying those mean things about us?
I doubt it.
And it caused a rift between my family and I. Proverbs 26:20 reminds us that without gossip a quarrel dies down. In other words, there is no more fuel to the fire.
This is why I hate gossip shows and anything dealing with “the latest dish”. I abhor it. Oh, there was a time I ate that stuff up. I loved hearing about the good, bad and ugly.
Now, I have to pray about my own mouth and what it can spread because it is a fleshly desire. A carnal jalapeno popper that is hot and crisp.
The kind of person we hate to be around, is exactly the kind we are. It is a fact of life that humans are prone to err in many areas of life: love, friendship, responsibility, faith, religion. All of these begin with words. And words must convey a truth. Gossip is not a truth.
It is a verbal weapon.
Aimed to hurt.
Thoughts?
Mission Possible 