Whoever slanders his neighbour secretly I will destroy. Whoever has a haughty look and an arrogant heart I will not endure |Psalm 101:5|
When I started my job we went through a whole thing about confidentiality and not sharing or talking about peoples’ private information; even inside of work, we have to only talk to the person with whom that discussion is relevant. And that discussion kept coming up over and over.
And today it has made me thinking about gossip; the gossip I’ve listened to, shared; never seeking facts because I’m not invested in the story to that degree, but still engaging in the salacious juicy details. Funny enough, I separate myself from what I perceive to be the egregious gossip from the small, palatable titillating kind that is harmless and not necessarily worth getting up and arms about.
But gossip separates people. It drives a wedge between friends, family, colleagues, and it plants seeds of strife. It has certainly influenced my perception of the person/people being talked about, and it’s difficult to value someone when I think I know who they are based on the negative things I have heard, even if within that negativity there are facts.
A gossip betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy person keeps a secret. (Prov 11:13). It’s funny how we can be both these people: a person who can keeps someone’s confidence, and also one who betrays it. Even if we do not go about spreading false reports, why are we helping a guilty person by being a malicious witness? Why are you sharing negative information about someone with others when they have no need to know it and will most certainly not be part of the solution?
Whether you think it’s a big deal or not, don’t be the foolish person who uses their mouth to destroy your neighbour. Yeah, you may not know the person, nor even care for them, but keep yourself from having a hand in destroying them. Don’t even listen to it; why choose to be a witness to someone’s evil? Gossip erodes your integrity, hence its insidious nature.
Be a person who can keep the confidence of your loved ones, friends, acquaintances.
If someone can be fired for sharing private information, and companies lose the public's confidence for doing the same, imagine the blessings you are blocking because your mouth is doing too much, and you are not guarding yourself against such folks.
Be a person who maligns no one [but be] peaceable, gentle, showing every consideration for all people. |Titus 3:2|
**SoulTea**
Pic by @xtraxa
