“On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.”
Gossip is a part of your old, secular, ungodly way of life. Leave it behind!
Words that attack instead of invite, that damage instead of heal, that tear a person down instead of building them up—these kinds of words do not belong to the Christian life. They are not pleasing to God.
Until we recognise this, we will go on thinking that gossip is a normal part of life, that it is acceptable behaviour. God wants you to represent him in the way you deal with people. When you speak negatively about someone to someone else, God’s reputation through you is damaged. It doesn’t matter whether the thing you are saying is true or not.
This week, God is trying to help you recognise gossip when it comes from your lips and root it out of your life.
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