"Without wood a fire goes out; without gossip a quarrel dies down." (NIV) Occasionally, one verse of scripture expresses truth so eloquently that it grabs your attention instantly. Proverbs 26:20 is one of those verses. (Of course, Proverbs is full of these kinds of verses.) The truth is that gossip is like wood that is added to a fire; as the wood is added the fire grows bigger. I guess all of us have seen this illustrated in about every area of life. You've probably seen gossip blow up "nothing things" at work. One person decides to add a bit of gossip to an issue that has arisen and it goes all through the company until it is all out of proportion. This is certainly true in the political arena. I don't know why in the world anyone would want to run for high office, because people with armloads of "wood" are out there just waiting to pile it on. I can't figure why anybody with anything negative in his or her past would run for public office. "Wood haulers," another term for gossips, are also alive and well in the church. I have seen things that have no significance at all become large issues in the church. For example, the pastor might say something to one of the church members in a private conversation. The person to whom the pastor spoke tells someone else what the pastor said. That person tells it and changes it a little bit. By the time it gets around the community via telephone it is nothing like what the pastor said. You've probably played the game of "Gossip." People sit in a circle and whisper whatever was said by the first person to speak; thus it goes around the circle. Invariably, what was first said has been blown all out of proportion. This is the way gossip is. Truth has nothing to do with it as people add their own embellishments to whatever is being gossiped about. Christians need to be careful what we say about each other. As gossip makes its rounds, truth goes out of the window. Surely, we would not want to be a party to a lie ruining someone's reputation. We need to get out of the "wood hauling" business. Don't you agree? Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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September 2021
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