Are you a gossip?

"Even so the tongue is a little member and boats great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles." James 3:5

There's a saying that goes, 'The deepest wounds in life come not from swords but words.' If you don't believe it, look at the walking wounded; they're all around you! Are you yourself still struggling with the hurtful words of an insensitive parent, a school teacher, a marriage partner, or a boss? Or worse, a Christian who thinks God's Word on the subject of gossip doesn't apply to them? God takes the sin (yes, it's a sin!) of gossip so seriously that He devotes an entire chapter of the Bible to it. If we were to read James 3 regularly, we might show more consideration before opening our mouths. The Bible says: 'Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.' (Eph 4:29)

One day a woman came to her pastor with a troubled conscience. She had 'sliced and diced' just about everybody in church. He said, 'Take a box of feathers and drop one on the doorstep of each person you've criticised.' After doing so, she came back and said, 'Is that all?' 'No,' he said. 'Now go and pick them all up and bring them back to me.' A week or so later, the woman returned without a single one. 'The wind blew them all away,' she said. After a long silence, the pastor said, 'That's how it is with words; they're easily spoken, but you can never take them back again.'

Are you a gossip? Amend your ways! 'Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails man.' (Jm 5:16)