Gossip Incorporated: Tittle-tattle Unlimited
"Ha! Na wa o! Are you serious? How can he be involved in such, and yet he calls himself a Christian? No wonder she was looking like that the other day. Anyway, Don't tell anyone I told you this o, let's just be praying for each other..."...and the gist spreads out of 'concern' for the church.
I've always hated been caught or my name mentioned in such gossip gists. Interstingly, quite a number of people 'work' voluntarily for Gossip Incorporated'. They're everywhere, including us. Ehn o! You and I are involved somehow. You will find out soon.
So I hear a tale about a friend of mine, I call the friend aside privately and confront them with the 'gist', as there is no smoke without fire, so they can deal with it.
Has my strategy been effective? Sometimes. Well, I found it ended the tale but gave me 'enemies'. Not enemies like the devil or boko haram anyway. Lol. The person who brought the information in confidence feels betrayed, the target of the gossip feels hurt and matters gets worse when name dropping starts and you find your 'friends or unlikely persons' are involved (in spreading or being silent on the gossip after overhearing). My consolation is the tale stopped at my door. None will come from that source anymore.
I once heard a close pal was sleeping with two sisters. I knew that before it'd reached me, Word had spread. So I hooked up with my pal and without intent of judging him asked, 'did you do this?' He told me not to believe all that's said of him. The matter ended there & anytime anyone tried to spoil my friend before me, I simply smiled & walked away.
I know you are waiting for more gist on the recent gossip matter that provoked my writing this piece, but I won't tell you # tongue-out.
However, I've got a dear friend hurting right now after she heard untrue gist about her being peddled among church folk.
Well, we’ve all been there. People are talking and you’re the one they’re tittle-tattling about. It’s not funny when you're the target of gossip. It can be annoying, frustrating, embarrassing, and hurtful. It's even worse when you're guilty. You'd have expected love & concern for your weakness, only to get back stabbing and ridicule from those you know are worse off, Maybe that’s why God encourages us to guard our tongues against gossip in His Word.
Proverbs 18:8 says, “The words of a gossip are like choice morels; they go down to a man’s inmost parts.”
Words hurt. The words of others can leave deep wounds on our hearts, especially when they’ve been shared behind our back. Since we can’t control what others do or say, there’s no way to permanently prevent others from talking about you.
It's time to stop the mess, stop pretending to care, let's solve this problem , quench the fires of Gossip incorporated. You may want to ask, How does God feel about gossip, how does he expect me to handle it?
One blogger explains the term, "Gossip is the vocalization of potentially destructive things about another, whether true or false, when that other person is either specifically identified or readily identifiable, and when that other person is not present and able to respond."
Very holistic definition if you ask me, particularlyconsidering God's angle on this.
He tells us to not associate with gossips: "He who goes about as a slanderer reveals secrets; Therefore, do not associate with a gossip." (Prov. 20:19)
God lists gossip alongside people who: do not acknowledge God; have a depraved mind; are full of unrighteousness, slander, wickedness, greed, malice, murder, strife, deceit, and envy; who hate God; are insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and people who approve such things. (Rom. 1:28-32)
In short, God hates gossip. Gossip is an unmistakable evil, reprehensible and detestable -- an abomination. But, why?...TO BE CONTINUED.
Meanwhile, feel free to share your experience with Gossip Incorporated. Trust me, I have a lot to share including if you are a gossip, types of gossips, strategies to deal with gossip etc.
I've always hated been caught or my name mentioned in such gossip gists. Interstingly, quite a number of people 'work' voluntarily for Gossip Incorporated'. They're everywhere, including us. Ehn o! You and I are involved somehow. You will find out soon.
So I hear a tale about a friend of mine, I call the friend aside privately and confront them with the 'gist', as there is no smoke without fire, so they can deal with it.
Has my strategy been effective? Sometimes. Well, I found it ended the tale but gave me 'enemies'. Not enemies like the devil or boko haram anyway. Lol. The person who brought the information in confidence feels betrayed, the target of the gossip feels hurt and matters gets worse when name dropping starts and you find your 'friends or unlikely persons' are involved (in spreading or being silent on the gossip after overhearing). My consolation is the tale stopped at my door. None will come from that source anymore.
I once heard a close pal was sleeping with two sisters. I knew that before it'd reached me, Word had spread. So I hooked up with my pal and without intent of judging him asked, 'did you do this?' He told me not to believe all that's said of him. The matter ended there & anytime anyone tried to spoil my friend before me, I simply smiled & walked away.
I know you are waiting for more gist on the recent gossip matter that provoked my writing this piece, but I won't tell you # tongue-out.
However, I've got a dear friend hurting right now after she heard untrue gist about her being peddled among church folk.
According to word Web, ' Gossip is a report (often malicious) about the behaviour of other people. Synonymous with rumour, pipeline, earful, scandal, talk of the town , grapevine, hearsay, chit-chat, chin-wag, gab, small talk, dirt, tittle-tattle. ...I like this last one, 'tittle-tattle' , hehehe.
Well, we’ve all been there. People are talking and you’re the one they’re tittle-tattling about. It’s not funny when you're the target of gossip. It can be annoying, frustrating, embarrassing, and hurtful. It's even worse when you're guilty. You'd have expected love & concern for your weakness, only to get back stabbing and ridicule from those you know are worse off, Maybe that’s why God encourages us to guard our tongues against gossip in His Word.
Proverbs 18:8 says, “The words of a gossip are like choice morels; they go down to a man’s inmost parts.”
Words hurt. The words of others can leave deep wounds on our hearts, especially when they’ve been shared behind our back. Since we can’t control what others do or say, there’s no way to permanently prevent others from talking about you.
It's time to stop the mess, stop pretending to care, let's solve this problem , quench the fires of Gossip incorporated. You may want to ask, How does God feel about gossip, how does he expect me to handle it?
One blogger explains the term, "Gossip is the vocalization of potentially destructive things about another, whether true or false, when that other person is either specifically identified or readily identifiable, and when that other person is not present and able to respond."
Very holistic definition if you ask me, particularlyconsidering God's angle on this.
He tells us to not associate with gossips: "He who goes about as a slanderer reveals secrets; Therefore, do not associate with a gossip." (Prov. 20:19)
God lists gossip alongside people who: do not acknowledge God; have a depraved mind; are full of unrighteousness, slander, wickedness, greed, malice, murder, strife, deceit, and envy; who hate God; are insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and people who approve such things. (Rom. 1:28-32)
In short, God hates gossip. Gossip is an unmistakable evil, reprehensible and detestable -- an abomination. But, why?...TO BE CONTINUED.
Meanwhile, feel free to share your experience with Gossip Incorporated. Trust me, I have a lot to share including if you are a gossip, types of gossips, strategies to deal with gossip etc.
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