Too Much Talk

Read Proverbs 20

A gossip goes around telling secrets, so don’t hang around with chatterers.

Proverbs 20:19

According to an old saying, “It takes two to tango.” In other words, responsibility for many forms of wrongdoing is shared. Today’s verse expresses this truth in the context of spreading gossip, which is often a problem even among Christians. God detests gossip, as we can surmise from all the injunctions against it in the book of Proverbs alone. His directions for dealing with it, therefore, are certain and strong.

Part of the problem is that gossip is extremely contagious. What may seem like harmless, even positive, “sharing” is actually the telling of secrets, the revealing of parts of another person’s life that are not ours to reveal. Because of the communicability of this disease of rumor, we must put the chronic gossiper into a sort of isolation ward. God does not mince words: “Don’t hang around with chatterers,” which we can infer is not just any kind of talk but specifically gossip. We will not “cure” a gossip; we will more likely be infected ourselves.

A WORD FOR TODAY

Loose lips sink a lot more than ships.

Lord, I want to be a person whose speech is positive and uplifting. Give me strength to avoid the gossipers in my life.