‘DELICIOUS MORSELS’                                                          Proverbs 18:8

 ‘The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels.’ Proverbs 18:8 ESV

Gossip can be a ‘delicious morsel’ that’s hard to resist. So if we have the opportunity to gossip, we need to catch ourselves before we indulge in it. There are many reasons why we choose to gossip. We might feel that it’s the only way to fit in and establish camaraderie with others. We might enjoy being the centre of attention. It might make us feel superior or powerful to know something negative about somebody else. It might be because we feel jealous of someone else’s achievements. We might even gossip just because we’re feeling bored. 1 Corinthians 6:19 says that we are ‘temples of the Holy Spirit’ (NIV), so whenever we’re tempted to listen to gossip, we need to ask ourselves if we’re willing to fill God’s temple with something that’s so unhealthy and negative. We need to make a choice to cut gossip out of our lives by refusing to share or listen to it. That might mean actively letting people know we’re not interested and declaring ourselves a ‘gossip-free zone’, or going out of our way to avoid places or situations where we know we’ll be drawn in to gossip. Solomon wrote, ‘A gossip goes around telling secrets, so don’t hang around with chatterers’ (Proverbs 20:19 NLT). We please God when our words are used as instruments of righteousness, and we can declare,

PRAYER LINE: ‘May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer’ (Psalm 19:14 NIV).

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At the end of each day, think back to any times that you got involved with gossip. Are there any particular places or situations where it keeps happening? Ask God to help you avoid those things as much as possible.