Gossip. We know we shouldn’t do it, but there’s just something about it that excites us. When talking to women I have realized that this seems to be an area that most women struggle with. We love to talk, and we love to have the most interesting topic for the conversations. I know I need to work on gossiping in the most basic sense, but I have realized that I “almost gossip” every single day. What is almost gossiping? It’s having a perverse desire to “KNOW” things. And then enjoying it because I KNOW things that no one else knows. It’s surrounding yourself with constant drama because even though the situation doesn’t involve you, you have made it involve you with the knowing and spreading of information.
“Wrongdoers eagerly listen to gossip; liars pay close attention to slander.”
Proverbs 17:4
Ouch. I would have to classify myself as a wrongdoer and a liar. Not only do I need to work on actually gossiping, but even more I need to work on “almost gossiping.” I think there are many ways that we “almost gossip,” but below I have listed the top four ways I believe it happens in our day.
- We continue to listen to conversations to gain information. We can always justify ourselves by saying that we are just listening as part of the group, but when people are gossiping and specifically slandering others then it is our responsibility to either change the conversation or leave. Sometimes we act as if we are just listening and not participating so that makes us different. No, really it makes us enablers because we are allowing the gossip. And let’s not fool ourselves to think we are strong because no matter how much we say we aren’t going to share the information, if it is the juiciest gossip we have heard in a while—we will share! There’s some kind of power we feel in being able to tell others interesting information. Just listening is almost gossiping!
- Scrolling through Facebook and other social media platforms. Maybe I am the only one, but I would dare to say that many have been in this situation. You are scrolling through Facebook and Jane Doe makes a post. You read Jane’s post and it says something like this: “I am so tired of people acting like they are better than everyone else.” or “If only people understood what the entire story.” So, what do we do? We dig, we search, we try to see who just posted before them that they could be referring to. We assume and perceive and develop an entire story over a quote that a person posted from a famous author. And then in our mind we have created gossip. And two hours later we haven’t done anything but fill our mind with worthless drama and wasted two productive hours of our lives.
- Copying/pasting/screen shot messages and send to others. The one thing about texting is that the words can be there forever. I have seen this a lot through teenagers, but adults do it too. Two people are having a conversation and one party decides to screen shot or copy/paste the messages to a third party so that they can “know.” This is gossip. Or maybe you just receive the information from someone. Almost gossip. Taking snap shots and sending pictures with negative captions is slandering. In a world full of technology, examples like these can take place in the matter of a few seconds.
- Prayer requests. This is my favorite one in the Christian circles. We don’t really want to flat-out gossip, so we “almost gossip” by sharing our information as a prayer request. Unless the people we are sharing with is part of the problem and part of the solution or they are a trusted prayer warrior that we turn to for everything…. the information we are sharing is gossip. We cannot cover up our sin, with the blanket of prayer.
There are many other ways we “almost gossip.” As Christians we must be aware of the power of our words and the power of our thoughts. While we may not be sharing our information with anyone, we have affected our mind by information we have gathered. Let’s try to take a step to strengthen our Christian walk and begin to take a stand against gossiping and “almost gossiping.”
Points to Ponder:
1. Do you have a perverse desire for information and with gossiping or “almost gossiping?” Take a moment to really reflect on your life and see if this is a hidden sin in your life.
2. Look at these four examples of “almost gossiping.” If any of these are currently a part of your life, ask God to strengthen you to remove at least one area this week.
3. Use Philippians 4:8 as a guide for what you should be surrounding yourself with. Is this true? Is it honorable? Is it right and pure? Is it excellent and worthy of praise? Think on these things!
