Wiser and Happier: Devotions From Time of GraceSample

Talking and Listening: News about friends One of my dearest friends loves to yak on the phone, and she is a never-ending source of information about people we know. “But it’s not gossip,” she says. “It’s just news about friends.” How can you tell the difference? Gossip damages people’s reputations. Gossip passes on rumors as though they were truth. Gossips enjoy other people’s difficulties. Gossips try to make themselves taller by stepping on other people. Gossips use behind-the-back talk as a form of revenge. Gossip hurts not only the gossipee but the gossiper as well. “The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to a man’s inward parts” (Proverbs 18:8). Get the point? Swapping juicy bits of information can taste like chocolate in the mouth, but as you swallow it you poison and corrupt your soul. God has a better way. Use your tongue to build up.