Zipped: God and Gossip

Sorry for the abridged notes this week. You can listen here:

You must not pass along false rumors. –Exodus 23:1

Telling lies about others is as harmful as hitting them with an ax, wounding them with a sword, or shooting them with a sharp arrow. -Proverbs 25:18

Yet we hear that some of you are living idle lives, refusing to work and meddling in other people’s business. We command such people and urge them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and work to earn their own living. -2 Thessalonians 3:11-12

And if they are on the list, they will learn to be lazy and will spend their time gossiping from house to house, meddling in other people’s business and talking about things they shouldn’t. -1 Timothy 5:13

They must not slander anyone and must avoid quarreling. Instead, they should be gentle and show true humility to everyone. –Titus 3:2

Who gossips with you will gossip of you. –Norwegian Proverb

No one gossips about other people's secret virtues. –Bertrand Russell

In our appetite for gossip, we tend to gobble down everything before us, only to find, too late, that it is our ideals we have consumed, and we have not been enlarged by the feasts but only diminished. -Pico Iyer

A troublemaker plants seeds of strife; gossip separates the best of friends. -Proverbs 16:28

Wrongdoers eagerly listen to gossip; liars pay close attention to slander. –Proverbs 17:4

Fire goes out without wood, and quarrels disappear when gossip stops. -Proverbs 26:20

Questions for group study and self-reflection

1. Who have you hurt by gossiping?
2. Does gossiping have a self-destructive component? How does gossiping hurt the gossiper?
3. Is listening to gossip bad? If so, what can you do to stop or limit this behavior?
4. Why do we tend to gossip about destructive behaviors and not about virtues?

Read:

"Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire. -James 3:5-6

Consider:

Who have you left in your path of destruction?

Read:

Therefore if you are offering your gift at the alter and thee remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the alter. First go and be reconciled to your brother, then come and offer your gift. -Matthew 5:23-25

Consider:

Who must you ask for forgiveness?