It’s a flavor of gossip that involves speaking spiteful or slanderous words about another who is not present and can do nothing in defense. It’s secretive, and the Bible actually mentions it by name in Proverbs 25:23: “The north wind brings forth rain, and a backbiting tongue, angry looks.”
Also: “Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him I will destroy; No one who has a haughty look and an arrogant heart will I endure” (Psalm 101:5).
You hear something, and it’s not good, and it’s also not confirmed as true. But you tell someone or ask someone else about it to get more info. The rumor mill turns and turns and the gossip spreads.
Proverbs 13:3 says, “He who guards his lips guards his life, but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin.”
“Dishin’ the dirt” basically means sharing the “juicy info” you learned about someone. Maybe the intent isn’t to directly cause damage, but by keeping the gossip alive, it continues to spread and taint the image of the person it’s about.
Proverbs 20:19 tells us that a gossip betrays a confidence; so avoid a man who talks too much.
James 5:9 says, “Don’t grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!”
It’s defined as spreading rumors or lies about a person to cause damage purposely. The written form of it is libel.
The Bible mentions slander countless times in lists like this one: “But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips” (Colossians 3:8).
James 4:11 tells it straight: “Brothers, do not slander one another.”
How do we know what’s gossip and what’s not gossip? We can find a number of Bible verses about gossip, especially in Proverbs, and we can also ask God to reveal it to us. James 1:5 tells us: “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.”
Have any of the types of gossip below been too tempting for you to resist lately? (Come back here when you’re done if you can use help to stop gossiping.)
Gossip is like a secret craving. We say we don’t like it, but when it’s within reach, we almost can’t resist it. We get a sudden appetite to know what we don’t know… about somebody else.
Why is it so hard to stop? Proverbs 18:8 says, “The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to a man’s inmost parts.”
No, you might think. Not me. I’m not into sharing the dirty details about a person’s life just for fun. But gossip comes in many flavors, and it involves listening as well. Proverbs 17:4 notes: “Wrongdoers eagerly listen to gossip; liars pay close attention to slander.” Yikes!
Think about that regarding yourself and where you are today. Have you done this yet?
The most significant moment in anyone’s life is when God begins to deal with you about repentance. But if you shrug your shoulders and say “well I’m not interested, maybe later”…there’s no guarantee that God will deal with you again,
or that you’ll get another tomorrow.
The most critical moment in anyone’s life is when God deals with your heart. When he says “Come back to me. I’m willing to take you back. I love you, I want you.”
One thing you can see throughout the bible that really makes God angry is despising God’s grace. He’s saying to you now: Come to me. Turn to me and let me help you.
If you’ve never known the forgiveness of God that is found through Jesus’s death on the cross and his resurrection, He invites you to come to Him and believe. He paid the ultimate price by laying down His life, as an atonement for your sins to be pardoned by God’s grace for whoever will put their trust in Him alone. Not Jesus plus other religions, or gods, idols, or sins.
But you’ve got to repent and ask Him in; trust what Jesus did on the cross for you (even if you don’t understand it all yet), and stop trying to be ‘good enough’ for God. You and I will never be good enough- if we could have then Jesus never would have needed to die for us.
If you’ve once known Jesus Christ as His son or daughter and you’ve backslidden (walked away from God into sin), come back to Him now. Don’t wait. Repent of your wayward heart.
Either way, I hope you will take some time with Almighty God who is right there by your side now- waiting. Use your own words to repent- turn back to Him everyday for strength and relationship, and away from the life of sin.
1) TRUE REPENTANCE is based on a recognition that we have sinned.
It is the supernatural power of God that has been placed in the gospel, which enables a person to repent. (God’s saving Grace)
2) TRUE REPENTANCE also involves a recognition that we are responsible to turn from our sins to God.
Repentance is an inner change of mind resulting in an outward turning back, or turning around,
to face and to move in a completely new direction.
This turning around has three elements.
A turning from sin and dead works, a turning to God, and an intent to serve Him and to obey His commands.
Going back to the Father you have offended; to the God who loves you saying: “I’ve made a mess of my life. I can’t run my own life. I sinned against you. I need you.”
The wonderful thing is, he planned to say to the Father ‘make me as one of your hired servants.’
But his Father was watching for him from far off, and as he got closer, he ran to meet his son.
This is such a beautiful image of how God is. When we begin to turn, he’s watching for us. The father saw him a long way off and ran to meet him. That’s how God is. That’s how he meets us. And he kissed him, and he never let him say “let me be one of your servants.’
No, he said, “Bring out the best robe, kill the fatted calf, put a ring on his finger and sandals on him.” That’s the result of true repentance.
It’s worth repenting to be welcomed like that by God.
So,
1) “He came to himself. ” He said basically, “I made a mess of my life. I wasted everything my father gave me.” He faced the truth of what he did. He didn’t blame anyone else or try to hide from it any longer.
2) Then he took action. He didn’t just sit there in self-pity. He said “But I’m going to make a decision to turn around and go back to my Father and say I’m sorry; and he turned and went.”
There is one parable that Jesus told, which is the most vivid and perfect illustration of true repentance.
It is the parable of the prodigal son, and somebody else has said it should be called the ‘caring father.’ (If you’re a woman reading this who have been unfaithful in your marriage, then you’re like me as I was the prodigal daughter at one time.)
The second son, from a wealthy family, decided to get all his inheritance now. So he went off to a distant country and lived it up in sinful things and sinful living. After he spent his inheritance, a famine came, and the only job he could get was feeding the pigs.
Here he is, in rags, feeding the pigs- hungry and longing to eat the slop that the pigs were eating.
Then this is what happens- in verse 17: “But when he came to himself, he said”….
that’s the main point- you have to come to yourself– your moment of truth,
see yourself as you really are and as God sees you and what He wants for you.
Luke 15: 17 “When he came to himself, he said ‘how many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father and will say to him ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I’m no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.”
Persecution Live 