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 My name is gossip, I have no respect for justice. I maim without killing. Break hearts and ruin lives. I am Cunning, malicious and gather strength with age. The more I am quoted, the more I am believed. I flourish at every level of society. My victims are helpless. They cannot protect themselves Against me, because I have no name and no face. To track me down is impossible. The harder you try, the more elusive I become I am nobodies friend. Once I tarnish a reputation, It is never the same. I topple governments and wreck marriages. I ruin careers and cause sleepless nights and heartaches. I spawn suspicion and generate grief. I make innocent People cry on their pillows. I am called GOSSIP. Office gossip-shop gossip-Party gossip-telephone gossip I make headlines and headaches. Remember me, before you repeat a story, ask yourself: is it true?? Is it fair?? Is it necessary?? If not do not repeat.. Keep it quiet! Great minds discuss ideas Average minds discuss events Shallow minds discuss people Which are you?? I always heard, "if you can't say something good about another, then say, nothing at all!" Gossip and slander involve the unrighteous use of true or false information concerning another person. Gossip falls into two categories. First, gossip may be idle talk, which is careless and insensitive information that is spread to those who have no real need to know it. It is a way of letting others know that we know what is going on. This is the work of busybodies who have nothing better to do than mind other people's business (I Tim. 5:13). Or, gossip may be as simple as a careless, friend allowing sensitive information to slip out during a casual conversation. The second type of gossip is the malicious gossip (I Tim. 3:11). This person has a clear, though often thinly disguised, purpose of harming the person they are talking about. It may very well be that what they are saying about the person is true. However, rather than speaking the truth in love (Eph. 4:15), they are out to inflict wounds and do damage (Prov. 17:9). A third, and more dangerous type of person the Bible calls a slanderer. The slanderer adds a new dimension to the gossip's destructive work in that he is willing to pervert the truth and lie against the person he is speaking about. God promises to destroy the slanderer (Ps. 101:5); he is a “perverse man who spreads strife" (Prov. 16:28); it is an “evil thing” that proceeds “from within” (Mk. 7:23). The slanderer may be guilty of slander due to ignorance or misinformation about the person who they are speaking about. They have heard one version of the story and that's enough for them; they are prepared to pass the information along. The slanderer may embellish a story to make it a bit more dramatic and interesting for the listener. Or, the slanderer may deliberately calculate to spread a lie and do serious damage to the name and reputation of his enemy. There is no question that the Bible forbids all forms of gossip and slander. As believers we are commanded to set such conduct aside (Eph. 4:31; I Pet. 2:1). We are told not to even associate with those who conduct themselves in this way (Prov. 20:19). 
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