Gossip is Evil

If the Spirit of God shows me that someone I know has done something harmful to others or morally wrong, I become responsible for that knowledge. What I do with the knowledge will govern future revelation the Spirit trusts me with.

If my response to the sin is to spread the knowledge of it, I will be like Noah’s son Ham, who tried to entertain the camp with the knowledge that Noah was in his tent drunk and naked. This brought the fame of being cursed on his son Canaan.

If my response is first intercession, praying for the person, then speaking with them, with the hope of restoring them to righteous behavior and relationships, I will likely make the Spirit glad He informed me. Jesus described a sequence of attempts to recover people who sin during part of an answer He gave to His disciples when they asked for Him to tell them who is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. It is recorded in Matthew 18. The steps He prescribed started with humility and ended with severity.

Gossip is evil. It is much worse than most of the sin it exposes. It is good to avoid both speaking it and listening to it. Make a different difference!