gossip: a candy for the ears & a rotting cause for the souls

as a human being, it is just inevitable that people gossip about others.

it is quite hard to catch yourself gossipping and it is even more difficult to stop yourself from gossipping.

i must be honest, i am guilty of this GOSSIP i am to write about.

right now, i extracted all of my wisdom teeth, so i am in deep pain...

to reduce pain, i stopped talking.

when i stopped talking, i realized that silence is indeed golden.

it had me thinking more, it had me reflect on who i am

and last but not least, it had me realize what a precious gift our voice is.

what's even more wonderful is that with our voice, we can communicate our messages unto others.

due to this temporary handicap and the current situation i am in right now,

i was able to ponder about what gossip is.

according to the entrusted wikipedia (Thank God for wikipedia.. or else my college life would have been much more complicated. ), gossip is what's below:

Gossip is idle talk or rumour, especially about the personal or private affairs of others.

It forms one of the oldest and most common means of sharing (unproven) facts and views, but also has a reputation for the introduction of errors and other variations into the information transmitted. The term also carries implications that the news so transmitted (usually) has a personal or trivial nature, as opposed to normal conversation.

The term is sometimes used to specifically refer to the spreading of dirt and misinformation, as (for example) through excited discussion of scandals.

this had me thinking...

gossip is selfish, self-centered, and self-justified.

i bet you...99.9% of the people have been victims,

100% of them perhaps have deep hurts

50% of them are courageous enough to forgive and forget

while the other 50% perhaps are sulking with an indispensible scar in their heart.

ironically... 100% are bound to gossip about other people even after their hurt.

it's inevitable and innate in human nature.

because most people are self centered and selfish, people will not hesitate to spread dirty gossip and pass along the misinformation. to make others take sides with them.

you know and i know. because we've all been guilty.

If you read the paragraph from wikipedia, some words stand out, screaming how erroneous and wrongful gossip is.

unproven, idle talk, errors, personal or trivial nature, dirt, misinformation,

excitement, scandal.

juicy and tasty.

gossip is like candy.

it's delicious and sweet for our ears.

and yet, it's causing cavity in our soul. the cause of a rotting soul.

and there, satan stands besides us, rejoicing and rooting for us to continue talking.

what saddens me is that this is SO evident in christians today.

do people not realize that words have power of healing?

but people use them to hurt others.

do people not realize that words have power to make heart beat?

but people use them to rip it up into pieces.

do people not realize that words have the power to encourage and motivate?

but people use them to to discourage and stumble others.

do people not realize that words have the power to spread love?

but people use them to instigate anger towards one another.

i want to declare today...

life is short. we have little time. we don't have enough time to love and share the words of blessings.

why gossip when u can bless others? why gossip when you can become a bandaid to people's heart?

why gossip when God strictly tells us DON'T?

LEVITICUS 19:16 "'Do not go about spreading slander among your people. "'Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor's life. I am the LORD."

PSALMS 34:13 keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies.

PSALMS 101:5 Whoever slanders his neighbor in secret, him will I put to silence; whoever has haughty eyes and a proud heart, him will I not endure.