What is gossip?
Here's the answer:
The word gossip means to talk about someone else to other people. When people gossip, they’re usually saying things about someone that are mean or even untrue. Gossiping is usually done behind someone’s back.
When we look at the Bible, we can see that it’s wrong to gossip. The Bible has a couple of important rules for how we should treat others: "Be kind and tender to one another. Forgive one another, just as God forgave you because of what Christ has done" (Ephesians 4:32). There are two important things to remember from this verse whenever you talk about someone.
First, before you talk about someone, you need to ask yourself if what you’re saying is kind and loving. If you want to say something nice, then great! But if you’re saying something mean or untrue, then that’s not how God wants you to treat people.
Second, it’s important to forgive others. If you want to talk about a person because you’re angry at him or her, the best thing to do is to forgive. If you’d like, you can kindly let the person know that what he or she did hurt you. But even if the person who hurt you isn’t sorry, God wants you to show love and forgive them anyway.
Above all, it’s important to remember the Golden Rule: to treat others the way you want to be treated. If you wouldn’t want someone saying unkind things behind your back, then you’ll probably want to think twice about doing the same thing to someone else.
Bible Truth
"In everything, do to others what you would want them to do to you" (Matthew 7:12a).
"Don’t let any evil talk come out of your mouths. Say only what will help to build others up and meet their needs. Then what you say will help those who listen" (Ephesians 4:29).
"...Always think about what is true. Think about what is noble, right and pure. Think about what is lovely and worthy of respect. If anything is excellent or worthy of praise, think about those kinds of things" (Philippians 4:8).
