A gossip is a tale bearer, a malicious story teller.
A gossip is one who habitually talks about other people and their private affairs.
A gossip spreads disparaging, scandalous tales.
To gossip is to talk too much or to go about tallking idle, unproductive talk.

To backbite is to speak evil of people in their absence. To backbite is to slander. Gossip and backbiting are negative. These two usually walk hand in hand.

When you gossip it is easy to slip into backbiting. Gossip and backbiting are hurtful, they malign reputations, they hurt lives. Gossip and backbiting destroy. Gossip damages and shatters people’s self esteem. Lives can be destroyed when false damaging stories are spread. Gossip and backbiting are never harmless. A gossip and backbiter’s words are a curse and an offence.

Gossip and backbiting are hateful. These come from intense dislike. You do not gossip or backbite about persons you like, love and respect.

Those who listen to gossip and slander are as liable as those who spread them. A gossip will continue to go where there is a ready audience for his/her evil report. If a person is bringing damaging report about someone to you, he/she is most likely taking evil report about you to some other people too. A willing ear for gossip and backbiting is an accomplice to gossip. You do not stand nor sit with people who malign those you like, love and respect. Anyone who continually listens to gossips and backbiters is a gossip and a backbiter.

There are two major agents involved in gossip and backbiting:

1. THE TONGUE
”The Tongue can be… a restless evil, full of deadly poison”.
When a tongue is engaged in the act of gossip and backbiting, it is a sword wounding the life and reputation of another.
When a tongue is filled with venom, it will malign and it will kill.
When a tongue is unruly, untamed and uncontrolled, it will wag anyhow and say vicious, evil things about other people.

2. THE HEART
The words that come out of a person’s mouth are an obvious undeniable direct evidence of what that person’s heart is filled with. One’s spoken words are an index of the state of one’s heart.
”… For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. The good man brings good out of the good stored in him, and the evil man brings evil out of the evil stored up in him”.
The words of a person’s mouth is a spill-over of the fullness of that person’s heart. The words we speak come from what is stored in our hearts.

Gossip and backbiting are therefore a clear pointer to a sick, poisonous tongue and a heart stored with wicked and hateful things.
-A heart full of pain, bitterness, frustration and anger will contrive mischief against others. This kind of heart will want others in pain.
-A vile tongue will slander and spread unpleasant and or unfounded stories about others. It will tell stories to bring damage to others.

The good news is this:
There is healing and a cure for such hearts and tongues that are repentant and ready for positive change.

”Above all else guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life”, that is, the heart should be adequately and properly protected from all forms of evil contamination. This is because the life we live is generated from the heart. The quality of our lives is dependent on the quality of our hearts. Therefore, care should be taken concerning what the heart is exposed to and thereby filled with.

The eyes and the ears are the openings into the heart. If the eyes are the windows of and to the heart, then the ears are the doorways to the heart. What you see and what you hear is ultimately stored in your heart. What you store in your heart is what will invariably come out from your mouth.

When you meditate on positive and life giving things and you store refreshing and edifying things in your heart, there is no room for negative and damaging thoughts and speech.
”Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against you”. The more you expose your ears and eyes to positive and life-giving things, the more your life is filled with goodness; fill your heart with the word of God, believe on it; Invariably, your tongue speaks life and healing to all you come in contact with, and your life becomes a blessing, not a curse or an offence.

The tongue on its own can also be worked on. Every unruly tongue can be tamed and disciplined. ”Set a guard over my mouth oh Lord, keep watch over the door of my lips”. When you are always mindful of what and how you speak, you will not talk too much. When you talk too much there is always the tendency to say what you ought not to say.
”When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his lips is wise”.
Speak the word of God out loud constantly. Speak the word of life. Be committed to speaking life not death.

The greatest cure of all is aptly represented in this verse-”Love your neighbour as yourself”. Love they say cures a multitude of sins. No matter what offence committed against you by a person, love will keep you from moving to destroy that person through gossip or through backbiting.

Stop encouraging gossip. Give your ear and heart to positive and enriching things:
“For the rest, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is worthy of reverence and is honorable and seemly, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely and lovable, whatever is kind and winsome and gracious, if there is any virtue and excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think on and weigh and take account of these things [fix your minds on them].”

And finally,” in everything, do to others what you will have them do to you”.

Please let us pray:
Father, today we confess and repent of our faults of gossip and backbiting. We acknowledge we have sinned against you. We ask for your forgiveness in whichever way we have caused grief, sorrow, pain for others especially by our words. Forgive us for listening to and encouraging damaging stories about people. We receive your love to penetrate into our hearts, so that we love our neighbours as ourselves.
We who have been hurt by gossip and slander we receive healing in our hearts, minds and lives today. Please come into these hurtful situations, bind up our wounds and restore peace and goodness into our lives in Jesus Name Amen.

-Remember, gossip and backbiting are pointers to a sick tongue and a bitter heart.
Stay away from gossip and slander and STAY BEAUTIFUL –KJO