Gossip HURL.

Okay, okay... the title of this post....might be...a little LAME-O, but it'll stick with you. So ha.


I know I said I was going to post once a week, but I got too excited! What can I say?! Plus, I have a really good topic for this one. So double ha. This is a topic that I feel is relevant to any woman, no matter what stage of life she is in. Whether she struggles with this herself (and I'm talkin' to myself, here) or she is a victim of this, GOSSIP affects most women.

Let me start with an illustration:

(Based on a true story)

A few months ago, my family and I were visiting my grandma (Gaga) at the assisted living facility where she lives. It was "grandparents day," so there were some...ahem...light hors d'oeuvres - oatmeal cookies and diet Coke. So naturally, we took some to nibble on while the Seniors reminisced.

Flash forward to that night:

Our stomachs...were...mmm let's just say.. IN SHAMBLES. I'm serious, we could not figure out what was wrong; we were SO sick! Then it dawned on us (via my sister.) The "oatmeal cookies" were laced with Metamucil---- I KID YOU NOT. It was not normal. Or fun. Our stomachs were TOE-UP.

You guys, gossip is the Metamucil cookie. It will tear anyone that "eats" it into shreds.

My serious point in all of this is that gossip is so destructive. I know from personal experience. I've been on both ends - the gossiper and the gossipee. I grew up in a small town church where gossip was the first language. It hurt, devastated even, a lot of good people - including my own family. I don't mean to bash the church or the members of it, but I know - I have seen with my own two eyes - that nothing good ever comes from gossip.

That in itself is no big news. We know that gossip hurts people. We get that.

So what are some more powerful reasons to stop gossiping?

Firstly, God hates gossip. That in itself should be enough to make me want to stop in my tracks. Proverbs 20:19 reinforces this:

" Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets; therefore do not associate with a simple babbler."

God specifically states how he hates gossip and even goes further to say how we shouldn't associate ourselves with people who do! Whoa. That's pretty humbling. Do I do either of those things? (Yes.) Or maybe both? (Also yes.) God does not put up with gossip, and neither should we.

Have you ever been in a situation where you found yourself in the midst of an argument, or maybe someone simply didn't like you, because of hearsay? I have. It's not fun. It's really not fun when people who don't know you are automatically at odds with you, because of something said that wasn't true. Cool. Gossiping causes a lot of unneeded fights between people who might otherwise get along.

Proverbs 26:20-21 actually addresses this exact issue:

"When you run out of wood, the fire goes out; when the gossip ends, the quarrel dies down. A quarrelsome person in a dispute is like kerosene thrown on a fire."

Even if for no other reason, we should stop gossiping because it will stop a lot of fighting and a lot of hate - the fighting and hate that gossip itself created.

I was sketching the other day, and I created this little dude. ^ I thought it would be a good illustration to go with today's thought, because it looks very tangled and jumbled up - much like gossip makes us feel. At first, gossip seems harmless, just as this drawing looks very bright, happy, and harmless. However, when we become woven into the gossip web, it is near impossible to get out. It is so hard to stop. As I looked closer at this drawing, it kind of sucked me in. I found that it went from sweet to almost wicked very quickly. I felt that if I were in this drawing, I would never make it out alive.

To me, gossip is the same way. It is so dangerous to us, because it is near impossible to escape from it. Take it from me. It is something I continue to work on every single day.

Let's be each other's Gossips Anonymous support group. Let's help each other get over this bad habit. Because I don't think that any of us, who are trying so hard to become stronger women of God, really want this. We don't want to hurt God, and we don't want to hurt each other, do we?









Here are some great scriptures that talk about gossip, if you are interested:

Leviticus 19:16 You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand up against the life of your neighbor: I am the LORD.

Proverbs 11:13 Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets, but he who is trustworthy in spirit keeps a thing covered.

Proverbs 20:19 Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets; therefore do not associate with a simple babbler.

Jeremiah 9:4 Let everyone beware of his neighbor, and put no trust in any brother, or every brother is a deceiver, and every neighbor goes about as a slanderer.

2 Corinthians 12:20 For I fear that perhaps when I come I may find you not as I wish, and that you may find me not as you wish—that perhaps there may be quarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder.

Let me know what you think of this, and don't forget to comment! :))
And remember, let's be the Pepto Bismol to each other's Metamucil cookies. ( <----- data-blogger-escaped-i="" data-blogger-escaped-just="" data-blogger-escaped-m="" data-blogger-escaped-of="" data-blogger-escaped-proud="" data-blogger-escaped-really="" data-blogger-escaped-reference.="" data-blogger-escaped-sorry="" data-blogger-escaped-span="" data-blogger-escaped-that="">


XOXO