Gossip…so many of us do it well knowig that Gossip is a destroyer.  For the purposes of this artiles I am not going to talk about slander which implies destroying a other person with malice intent.  I want to speak to conversations that may seem innocent on the surface becasue they are true.

Gossip can be and usually is truth.  We need to ask ourselves do I need to share this information and do I need to share it with the audience to which I am speaking too.  This is the golden rule to Gossip that may be truthful and not neccessarily harmful.  The reason I say this is because we will talk about others and about situation.  This is okay in the proper context, setting, and audience.

Now what about Gossip that is negative in nature that has the ability destroy a person, tear them down, or hurt their reputation.  Please understand this…anything of negative nature should NEVER be spoken to another who has no business knowing.  In most situations you should go directly to a person if you are having issues with them that are negative in nature.  In some rare situations the grievance may be so extreme that you need to go get help immediately, but this is rare. In all situations you should only share negative information with people who need to know and that you trust and that can help the situation along or give Godly advise.

Lastly, keep in mind that negative things will happen.  We as Christians are not to ignore such things.  There may be times when action is required to address a person or a situation.  However, in all of our words and actions we are to try to redeem the situation, which means to make it positive.  If all we do is spread negative talk about people and situation then we are not advancing the redeeming work of Christ in our lives, to others or to the situation we are facing.  Always think positive, approach things positively, and have the intent to change the situation for the good.  The situation or person may not change and negative things may come as a result; however, at least you will know you approach a situation in a godly manner.

So to make it clear…if you share negative information with another person or group just to tell them or has no business knowing is GOSSIP and it destroys and sows seeds of discord.  Let’s all try to advance God’s redeeming work in our speech…that is a lesson for all of us.