A thought for the day on the origins and effects of gossip…

Blogger Yeweifang writes in her article: Loving God With All Your Mind, a challenge to one’s mindset on relationships. She writes that “We often wonder about what a person isn’t saying or try to read between the lines of what he or she does say…” which is true. Some people chalk up such a practice as simple “sensitivity” to others… we read between the lines because others perhaps find it difficult to communicate what they are actually thinking or feeling.

The Bible suggests otherwise however. For example in Matthew 18:15, “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.” We are encouraged in Matthew’s gospel to be truthful and direct with our neighbor. In doing so, we are freed from worrying about what other people think of us or what they might be saying about us behind our back. When we stray from this principle, isn’t that what feeds the practice of gossip? Speculation (often negative) about others and their intentions hurts us because it encourages us to harbor evil thoughts about others.

When we indulge in gossip, we fail our neighbors because we delve into “interpreting and distorting the actions of others rather than accepting them at face value.” In a word, we make our neighbors into liars and base our understanding on something other than the reality or the truth.

Those of you who have been on the receivng end of gossip and its mis-truths know how much it can hurt. Think about these implications the next time you are tempted to second-guess another person. Trust in what your neighbor says to you and try your hardest to approach her with honesty so that she may also in turn trust in you and what you say to her. This is one way we can express love for our neighbor.