Beware of Gossip !!!

"You're Not Going To Believe everything What you Hear"
Jas 3:5 Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth
Eph 4:15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
We need to examine the accuracy of the information as well as our motives in telling the story.

- Concerning accuracy, if we’re not sure about the truth of the story, that should be enough to stop us from sharing it. If it’s something that were concerned about because someone that we love is involved, we should proceed not by sharing the unverified story, but by going to the person in question and sharing our concern. “I heard this and I wanted to make sure it wasn’t true.”

- For some people, though, the presumption is that if the accuracy of the information is confirmed, then sharing it is not gossip. “I’m just telling the truth,” they’ll say. But there’s a second factor at play and that is the motive we have in sharing the story. Even if a story is verified to be true, if we are sharing it with the motive to hurt the person, to taint their reputation, or just because we want to be the first to share the juicy news, our motive is bad.
2. Why Do We Gossip?

“We love our insider status more than we love people.”

- James 3:5-6; James 4:11; James 5:9.

- We seldom think about the implications for the person we’re gossiping about. Our thoughts are usually on being the first one to spread the news so that we’ll get (a) credit for being “in-the-know” and (b) others to share their gossip with us when they’ve got some.
3. Why Should We Change Our Words?

- Obviously, what we just talked about a moment ago hints at one good reason: that we should love people more than our insider status, but there are other reasons that directly apply to us.

A. “Realize that everything you say is being recorded.”

- Matthew 12:36-37; Matthew 10:26.

- I don’t mean that Big Brother is watching. I mean that God in heaven misses nothing
And Jesus tells us here that we are accountable for every word that we say.




B. “Understand that a loose tongue equals a useless religion.”
- James 1:26; James 3:2.

- Proverbs 6:16-19 (last one).

- Romans 1:29; 2 Corinthians 12:20; 1 Timothy 3:11; 1 Timothy 5:13; 2 Timothy 3:3; Titus 2:3.
- Here in James 1:26 and James 3:2, we see a similar idea - that the way we handle our tongue represents one of the most difficult tests of the maturity of our faith.

- Many Christians divide sins up into the “really bad ones” (perhaps murder, adultery, homosexuality, etc.) and the “not so bad ones” (perhaps envy, pride, materialism, gossip, etc.). The sin of gossip is deemed excusable by many folks who conside
r themselves to be mature Christians. These verses speak against that and point out the seriousness of the sin and the reality that it is a test of spiritual maturity.

- Proverbs 6:16-19 speaks of things that God hates and the last (and in the Hebrew that makes it the point of emphasis) is someone who sows discord among brothers. When we stir up trouble within the church with our gossip, we are putting ourselves in the line of the wrath of God.
4. What Do I Do When I’m Approached With Gossip?
“Have you talked to [that person] about this?”

- This comes out of Matthew 18:15. Our first step when there is sin involved is to go confront the person about it, not gossip behind their back.
- Come let us find out what is the truth
- Do you have witness about this matter/person
- Please tell him –brother don’t talk about others, Pl stop it
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