The Poison of Gossip
Divine Whispers | Viju Jeremiah Traven
My beloved, I must teach you plainly about a sin that many dismiss as harmless whispers yet blocks more blessings than you realize: gossip. It masquerades as concern. It hides behind prayer requests. It thrives in coffee shops, Church lobbies, and secret conversations. But make no mistake: gossip is venom, contaminating both speaker and hearer with baseless rumours and presumptions.
“A perverse person stirs up conflict, and a gossip separates close friends” (Proverbs 16:28). What the mouth releases, the heart has rehearsed. For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Luke 6:45). The words of a whisperer are like tasty morsels, they descend into the inmost body, shaping the soul, corrupting the spirit (Proverbs 18:8).
The Enemy’s Echo
God warns plainly: “Do not go about as a slanderer among your people” (Leviticus 19:16). Gossip wounds the Body. It grieves the Spirit. It gives the enemy a foothold.
“Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is great for building up” (Ephesians 4:29). Gossip is the accuser’s weapon, forged to corrupt unity through manipulative half-truths. It echoes the voice of the enemy, for “the accuser of our brothers… accuses them day and night” (Revelation 12:10). Half-truths betray the whole truth.
What begins as a fragment becomes a snare. Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord (Proverbs 12:22). Such speech fractures what love is meant to bind. Gossip thrives in secrecy, yet sows public destruction, because “where there is strife, there is every evil practice” (James 3:16).
The Way of the Peacemaker
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9). Peacemakers endure pain without retaliation. They embrace silence without bitterness. They choose sacrificial love over self-justification, grace over the right to accuse.
They walk as Christ walked, who “when he was reviled, he did not revile in return” but entrusted Himself to the righteous Judge (1 Peter 2:23). They lay down their right to defend themselves, knowing that “love keeps no record of wrongs” (1 Corinthians 13:5).
Restraint mirrors the heart of God.
Yet, peacemakers are not silent due to a compromise. They speak the truth, but always in love (Ephesians 4:15). Their words are carefully chosen, “like apples of gold in settings of silver” (Proverbs 25:11), spoken not to wound, but to heal; not to expose, but to restore. “Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing” (Proverbs 12:18).
They speak with redemptive purpose. Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones (Proverbs 16:24). Such speech covers in love rather than shames in public, for “love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8). Death and life dwell in the power of the tongue (Proverbs 18:21).
When Mercy Speaks, Heaven Listens
When you sincerely speak mercy, you release heaven’s compassion. “Mercy triumphs over judgment” (James 2:13). Such speech becomes a channel of grace, flowing where accusation once ruled.
God’s call is clear: “Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life” (Proverbs 13:3), but “the one who repeats a matter separates close friends” (Proverbs 17:9). Cover wisely in love. Restore in gentleness (Galatians 6:1). Let your speech be “always gracious, seasoned with salt”(Colossians 4:6). Where gossip ends, peace begins.
Gossip Is The Sign Of Spiritual Pride
When you talk about others’ failures, you elevate yourself. You position yourself as judge and jury, forgetting God’s warning: “Judge not, that you be not judged” (Matthew 7:1). You cannot occupy the judge’s seat and the mercy seat simultaneously.
“With the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you”(Matthew 7:2). When you choose to judge without quietly discerning truth, you step out from under mercy. “Judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy” (James 2:13).
Judgment does not belong to you. Vengeance belongs to God. “Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls” (Romans 14:4). Gossip says, “I would never do what they did.” It whispers, “At least I’m not as bad as them.” This is the prayer of the Pharisee who thanked God he wasn’t like other men (Luke 18:11-12). Jesus said this man went home unjustified.
Pride blocks blessing. “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6). When you gossip, you advertise your spiritual pride. When pride rises, grace departs. The moment you judge another, you disqualify yourself from mercy.
Gossip Demonstrates a Lack of Love
“Love does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Corinthians 13:6-7).
Gossip does the opposite. It exposes, exploits, and exaggerates recklessly. It delights in uncovering what love is called to cover. It finds pleasure in another’s downfall. It broadcasts shame while God calls you to guard dignity. All social media influencers who mock the innocent to make money will one day stand before the White Throne of God for every word they spoke or wrote to defame others.
Love covers graciously; gossip exposes mercilessly. My Beloved, “I tell you with Divine certainty: every careless word spoken by Human lips is noted in Heaven and will be brought forth on the Day of Judgment. Words will stand as witnesses, some to justify, others to condemn, for speech is never weightless. By your words you will be declared righteous, and by your words you will be held accountable” (Matthew 12:36–37).
My servant Jude said: There is judgment upon all, to convict and expose every ungodly person for all their ungodly deeds done in defiance of God’s will, and for all the harsh, insolent, and defiant words which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him, revealing the true nature of hearts that resist His authority and despise His truth. These are habitual murmurers and relentless complainers, always dissatisfied, fault-finding, and resentful toward God’s ways; they walk driven by their own ungodly desires, speaking loud, arrogant, and empty words, flattering people for personal advantage, using others as stepping stones rather than walking in truth (Jude 1:15-16).
How can God bless you when you refuse to love as He commanded? “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you” (John 13:34). How can He entrust you with greater influence when you weaponize information instead of stewarding grace? “Whoever is faithful in little is also faithful in much” (Luke 16:10).
Remember: “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck” (Matthew 18:6). God desires restoration, not exposure. Healing, not shame. “Let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding” (Romans 14:19). When you gossip, you fail the test of love. The entire law is fulfilled in loving your neighbor as yourself (Galatians 5:14). Gossip is a fundamental spiritual failure.
Choose which spirit you will serve, mockery or integrity.
Gossip Destroys Unity
Proverbs lists seven things God hates. Among them: “one who sows discord among brothers” (Proverbs 6:19). Gossip fractures the Body of Christ. It creates suspicion, division, corruption and strife. One whispered conversation can shatter years of trust. “A whisperer separates close friends” (Proverbs 16:28). One so-called prayer request in disguise can poison an entire community. “A little leaven leavens the whole lump”(Galatians 5:9).
Gossip is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. It appears gentle while devouring unity (Matthew 7:15). What is spoken in secrecy multiplies in destruction. God cannot pour blessings into a divided house. Division invites defeat (Mark 3:25). Where there is unity, He commands blessing and life forevermore (Psalm 133:1, 3). Where there is discord, blessings are withheld, and purposes are hindered.
Gossip stops spiritual journeys. Consider Miriam, who spoke against Moses (Numbers 12:1). She gossiped to Aaron, criticizing God’s chosen leader. The result? Leprosy struck her immediately. The entire nation’s journey was delayed seven days while she suffered outside the camp (Numbers 12:10-15). One woman’s gossip delayed an entire nation’s blessing.
Unity releases a blessing. Division repels it. Your tongue determines what you create.
Gossip Reveals an Unguarded Heart
When you gossip, you demonstrate that you haven’t tamed the carnality of your tongue. “If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless”(James 1:26).
Gossip is the language of worthless religion. If your devotion is fake, how can your prayers be effective? How can your act of worship be acceptable? How can your service bear fruit of the Spirit? The unbridled tongue betrays an unbridled heart. An unbridled heart cannot contain blessing.
“The tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell” (James 3:6). Your gossip doesn’t just wound others. It defiles you. It sets your entire life on a trajectory of destruction. Master your tongue, or it will master you.
The Alternative: Intercession Over Disappointing Information
Instead of gossip, God calls you to intercession. When you learn of someone’s sin or struggle, don’t broadcast it; pray about it sincerely. Shepherds of My flock must, at times, graciously confront and wisely correct those who wander among My people, for I have charged them to preach the Word, to convince, rebuke, and exhort with great patience and instruction (2 Tim. 4:2). Such correction is not born of anger, but flows from My Fatherhood, for whom I love, I discipline, that they may share in My holiness (Prov. 3:11–12; Heb. 12:6, 10–11).
When a son or daughter is overtaken in error, those who are spiritual are to restore them in a spirit of gentleness, watching over their own hearts as they do so (Galatians 6:1), for turning one from the error of his way saves a soul from death and covers a multitude of sins (James 5:19–20). This sacred responsibility I have entrusted to shepherds, to warn and teach every person in all wisdom, that they may be presented mature, complete, and perfect, in Christ (Colossians 1:28; Ephesians 4:11-13). Therefore, such loving rebuke must not be resisted as gossip, for open rebuke is better than hidden love, and faithful are the wounds of a true friend (Proverbs 27:5–6). To refuse correction is to harbor silent hatred, but to rebuke in love is to refuse sin its hiding place (Leviticus 19:17).
For as Scripture declares: “Those whom I love, I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent” (Revelation 3:19). Likewise, “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account” (Hebrews 13:17).
Correction is never condemnation; it is the hand of My Fatherhood extended to bring repentance, healing, and alignment with My truth. Cover people in prayer if they go wrong, as Noah’s sons covered their father’s nakedness with a garment, walking backward so they wouldn’t see his shame (Genesis 9:23).
Speak to God about people before you speak to people about people.
One whispered conversation can shatter years of trust. One prayer request in disguise can poison an entire community. Gossip is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, appearing gentle while inwardly devouring unity. Where gossip bites, the Body bleeds. Unity dies. A venomous tongue can consume a holy community (Galatians 5:15).
Bring every concern to Me first. “Cast all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7). But when you pray, do not make soulish prayers regarding anyone. Emotional prayers can become veiled gossip before My throne. Instead, seek My heart earnestly to know My perfect will about those who are going wayward. “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, Who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him”(James 1:5).
Pray for Divine wisdom, not Human solutions. Ask God how to deal with rebellious people according to His heart, not your hurt. For “the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits”(James 3:17).
Elders must pray in the Spirit, not in the flesh. “The Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us” (Romans 8:26). Let Him guide your intercession so your prayers align with heaven’s purposes, not Earth’s judgments.
When you speak to God, your thoughts align with His, becoming purified in the process. Understanding His intent renews your mind, making your worship both acceptable and reasonable (Romans 12:1-2). “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what helps build others up” (Ephesians 4:29). God will teach you when to be silent and when to speak. “A time to keep silence, and a time to speak” (Ecclesiastes 3:7). He will grant you grace to handle difficult people with His gentleness, for “a soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger” (Proverbs 15:1).
When you must address sin, follow God’s prescribed process: “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone” (Matthew 18:15). Direct. Private. Redemptive. This is God’s way. Anything else is gossip disguised as concern, self-righteousness masquerading as accountability.
Who Dwells in God’s Presence?
The psalmist asks: “O LORD, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill?” The answer includes: “Who does not slander with his tongue and does no evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a reproach against his friend”(Psalm 15:1-3).
The one who refuses gossip dwells in God’s presence and receives His blessing. The one who guards their tongue walks in favor and experiences supernatural promotion. Intercession builds bridges. Gossip burns them. Choose to be a builder, not a destroyer.
The Bridegroom’s Closing Word
My Beloved Bride, I have shown you the path that leads to life. Guard your mouth as you would guard your heart, for from it flows the wellspring of your destiny. Let your words be few, weighty, and drenched in My love, so that when you speak, Heaven echoes and Earth is transformed. Walk in this truth, and My blessing will chase you down, overtake you, and crown you with favor that the world cannot comprehend.
Prayer
Father, set a guard over my mouth and keep watch over the door of my lips. Let my words bring life, not death; healing, not harm; unity, not division. Transform my tongue into an instrument of Your grace, that blessing may flow unhindered.
Reflection
Every word I speak creates the world I inhabit. My tongue holds the power to build kingdoms or burn them.
Today, I choose love over accusation, mercy over judgment, silence over slander.
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