Don't listen to gossipers
Proverbs 20:19 tells us, "A gossip betrays a confidence; so avoid a man who talks too much." Did you hear that verse? Don't listen to gossipers and their gossip. God's word says, avoid the gossiper. When someone begins to gossip to you, tell them plainly, "I don't want to hear any gossip. We don't want gossip hurting our church." Don't worry about offending them by telling them you don't want to hear any gossip. Gossipers need to be put in their place.
Confront gossipers
If someone gossips about you, Jesus tells us how to confront them in
Matthew 18:15-17.
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First, speak to the person one-on-one. If that doesn't work, bring a couple of spiritually mature Christian friends with you to confront them. We must confront people with the right facts and the right spirit.
Ephesians 4:15 tells us, "Speak the truth in love."
Watch your tongue carefully
Ephesians 4:29 says, "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." Watch your tongue. If your words tear people down rather than building them up, keep quiet. As my mother used to tell me, "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all."
A man won the million-dollar lottery. He flew with his wife to New York City for a weekend get away. They had such an argument over how to spend the money that she threatened to divorce him. In a fit of anger, he went to the top of the World Trade Center, the world's tallest building. She ran up after him, thinking he might do something crazy. Once she got to the top she said, "Honey, I love you. We can work it out." But by the time she reached him, he had already torn the check into pieces and thrown the pieces to the ground. They got to the ground as quick as possible to gather up the pieces of the check. But it was too late. The wind had gotten a hold of the pieces. They couldn't piece the check back together again, no matter how hard they tried. That's how it is with gossip. Once gossip gets out, it gets out of control. Once it gets into the wind of people's ears, there's no way to put things back together again.
Jesus warns us about sins of the tongue in
Matthew 12:36: "I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken." We all need to pray
Psalm 141:3: "Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips."