A WORD TO THE WISE: Proverbs 26: 22

Proverbs 26: 22     The words of a talebearer are like tasty trifles, and they go down into the inmost body.

Proverbs 26: 22.  Some people like gossip. They just do.  Hearing what “I heard that she did…” and what “He said that she told him…”--- it just brings pleasure to some folks.  I don’t personally understand the thrill of gossip, but then I also don’t get how people enjoy eating raw cauliflower or drinking until they throw up and pass out.

For some folks, even good Christian folks, gossip is just a pleasure, a guilty pleasure--- like chocolate when you’re supposed to be on a diet or like cigarettes.   

The problem is that gossip, however much you enjoy it is inherently tainted.  When you consume those rumors, accusations, and innuendo, you ingest a kind of spiritual poison. 

 Sometimes the effect of this contamination is obvious.   People break out in bouts of anger.  They have seizures of conflict.  The joints that bind relationships together weaken and fracture.  Every year, the side effects of contamination from ingesting gossip account for a significant number of injuries and emergency room visits.

Sometimes though the effects of contamination from gossip are less immediate though just as harmful.  Over time, regular exposure to second-hand mess causes brain damage, so that your mind becomes less able to discern truth.  It damages the heart, causing diminished compassion, less love, and an overall feeling of bitterness toward people.  Your vision suffers, rendering you unable to shift you focus away from petty things and toward the real, important qualities in people and callings of God.

Gossip is a common substance in society but its danger have often been overlooked and under-reported.  Don’t let the smooth taste fool ya’.  Consuming rumors is harmful to you and to the body (of Christ).

Get help.  Just say “No.”

----- Anderson T. Graves II

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is the pastor of Hall Memorial CME Church

Call/ fax: 334-288-0577
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Hall Memorial CME Church
541 Seibles Rd.,
Montgomery AL 36116