“Without wood a fire goes out; without a gossip a quarrel dies down.”

The gist of this verse is that gossip fuels fights, and when it is removed, everything calms down. How many friendships have been ruined—many never to recover—because of gossip? How many families have been broken apart by the same thing? Gossip is evil. And I’ve been guilty. Maybe not always of sharing it, but certainly of listening to it. Both are equally responsible for spreading it. Gossip dies without a listener. For it to spread, someone has to participate by intentionally hearing it. We always have the option to either ask the person to stop sharing it or to walk away. Once we commit to being a willing listener, we help keep the gossip alive. We breathe life into it. It is irrelevant whether the gossip is true, false, or partially true. If it is not truly, life-impactingly our business, then it is gossip and should die an abrupt death. But letting that happen is hard. One of the things I find intriguing about Solomon—and most scripture writers—is that in their teaching, they never entertained foolish talk, especially about others. He called it out and shut it down. Today, let’s do the same. #BeTheEdge

“Do not spread false reports. Do not help a guilty person by being a malicious witness.” Exodus‬ ‭23‬:‭1‬ ‭NIV‬‬