The first to state his case seems right until another comes forward and examines him. Proverbs 18:17
"If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God." 1 Peter 4:11
GOSSIP
"…speak evil of no one” or “…malign no one” Titus 3:2 "Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law." James 4:11 “Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.” Ephesians 4:25 There is no legitimacy to what any person says to a third party about another person so long as the former person refuses to state face to face, one on one, to the latter person that which he/she is saying to the third parties about the latter person. |
"There are six things that the Lord hates,
seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers" Prov. 6:16-19 Gossip is an Abomination to God. |
Leviticus 19:16 You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand up against the life of your neighbor: I am the LORD.
Proverbs 11:13 Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets, but he who is trustworthy in spirit keeps a thing covered. Proverbs 20:19 Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets; therefore do not associate with a simple babbler. Proverbs 26:20-22 For lack of wood the fire goes out, and where there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases. As charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife. The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels; they go down into the inner parts of the body. Jeremiah 6:28 They are all stubbornly rebellious, going about with slanders; they are bronze and iron; all of them act corruptly. Jeremiah 9:4 Let everyone beware of his neighbor, and put no trust in any brother, or every brother is a deceiver, and every neighbor goes about as a slanderer. Psalms 41:7 All who hate me whisper together about me; they imagine the worst for me. Proverbs 25:23 The north wind brings forth rain, and a backbiting tongue, angry looks. Romans 1:28-32 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. 2 Corinthians 12:20 For I fear that perhaps when I come I may find you not as I wish, and that you may find me not as you wish—that perhaps there may be quarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder. 1 Timothy 3:9-11 Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain. They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. And let them also be tested first; then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless. Their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things. 1 Timothy 5:13-14 Besides that, they learn to be idlers, going about from house to house, and not only idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not. So I would have younger widows marry, bear children, manage their households, and give the adversary no occasion for slander. 2 Timothy 3:1-5 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. Titus 2:2-3 Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, If a false witness testifies against someone, accusing him of a crime, both parties to the dispute must stand in the presence of the LORD, before the priests and judges who are in office at that time. The judges shall investigate thoroughly, and if the witness is proven to be a liar who has falsely accused his brother, you must do to him as he intended to do to his brother. You must purge the evil from among you. Then the rest of the people will hear and be afraid, and they will never again do anything so evil among you. You must show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, and foot for foot. Duet. 19:16-21 |
The character of a gossiper:
Gossipers have an inferiority complex and therefore find it necessary to put other people down as a means to feel good about themselves; and to elevate themselves over another in order to feel superior to someone based upon what the world thinks of them and what their own deceitful hearts thinks about themselves and not what God thinks of them. It is for this reason why they gossip about others for if they looked upon themselves and those whom they gossip about the way God looks upon them and those whom they gossip about they wouldn’t gossip.
At the foot of the cross all men are men are equal. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written: 'None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” Romans 3:9-12 “For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith." Romans 3:22-25 Gossips are just like those people who hide behind the corner of a building waiting for their victims to walk by unawares and then hit their victim over the head with a 2 by 4 from behind; bushwhacked.
Gossips derive a kind of pleasure, a satisfaction, from the pain of another human being.
This is a characteristic of both a sadist and a psychopath. When a person laughs at the pain of another human being he/she is deriving enjoyment and pleasure from the pain of another person. This also is a characteristic of both a sadist and a psychopath.
Gossip:
a person who often talks about the private details of other people's lives - Merriam-Webster casual or unconstrained conversation or reports about other people, typically involving details that are not confirmed as being true. Slander:
to make a false spoken statement that causes people to have a bad opinion of someone - Merriam-Webster the action or crime of making a false spoken statement damaging to a person's reputation. When slander involves a false statement about violating a law it becomes "false witness bearing."
Thus, slander and "bearing false witness" are the same act with "bearing false witness" resulting in significantly more physical harm. "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." Exodus 20:16 Gossip is an Abomination to God. Gossip is hate. Hate is murder. Murderers go to hell. Gossipers go to hell. 1 Jn. 3:15 How do you know that Gossipers know they will go to hell for gossiping? You know because Gossipers acknowledge their belief in hell for they be believe the person whom they gossip about deserves to go hell which is why they gossip about that person. Thus if the Gossiper had the power to send the person to hell whom they are gossiping about they would; evidenced by the fact that the Gossiper is gossiping about, harming, the person who is the target of the gossip. If the Gossiper did not believe the person who is the target of his gossip deserved to go to hell the Gossiper would not be gossiping about the person who they have judged worthy of going to hell. Thus, Gossipers believe in hell they just don't believe they themselves are going to hell. But they are self- deceived because they base their standard of avoiding hell on their own subjective and bias standard and God's standard found in the TRUTH of God's Word . If the Gossipers used God's Truth and Standard to judge others and themselves than they would be convicted of sin that would sent them to hell. That is why Gossipers do not use God's Word as the standard to determine if they will end up in hell. because they refused the love of the truth that would have saved them. For this reason, God will send them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie, in order that judgment will come upon all who have disbelieved the truth and delighted in wickedness. 2 Thess. 2:10-12 Whoever keeps the whole Law but stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. James 2:10 And this is the verdict: The Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light, because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come into the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. John 3:19-20 Click here to see how gossip kills. You do to the malicious witness that which the malicious witness intended to do to his victim: Deuteronomy 19:16-21 Gossip and Slander are the same act with the only difference being that slander is always false whereas gossip may be true but sometimes, often times, is not. Their goal is to cause harm to the person whom the gossip and slander are targeting. Slander and Bearing False Witness are the same act with the only difference in the level of harm caused by the false accusations. Slander there are no criminal ramifications. Bearing False Witness there are criminal ramifications. There is the potential to go to prison and be put to death from a False Witness Bearer. There is no potential to go to prison or be put to death from a Slanderer. A False Witness Bearer is a Slanderer. A Slanderer is not a False Witness Bearer. A False Witness Bearer is a Gossiper. A Slanderer is a Gossiper. The Tongue of a Gossiper "How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And 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. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water." James 3:6-12 “For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks." Luke 6:43-45 It takes the indwelling Holy Spirit to tame to the tongue. The Holy Spirit only takes up residence in those people who have true saving faith in Jesus. "If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples." John 15:7-8 "If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you." John 14:15-17 Gossip is of the world.
Gossip destroys the community; it destroys society. If Gossip is allowed to go unchecked in the Church it will also destroy the Church. Gossip creates hatred and division in the Church just like it creates hatred and division in the world. The longer it goes unchecked the more it spreads and the more damage it does. Like cancer killing cell after cell until the whole body dies; gossip kills one person after another until the whole Church is dead. "If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand." Mark 3:24-25 "As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned." Titus 3:10-11 "I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive." Romans 16:17-18 "What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?" James 4:1-4 "Do not be misled: "Bad companionships corrupt good morals." 1 Cor. 15:33 "Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?" 2 Cor. 6:14 "Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed." 1 Cor. 5:6-7 "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." Romans 12:2 "For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers." Romans 8:29 "And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever." 1 John 2:17 "But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly." 2 Peter 3:7 "Whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God." James 4:4 "God is Not a Gossiper.
Satan is a Gossiper. "...for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God." Rev. 12:10 God is Not a Slanderer. Satan is a Slanderer. "You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand up against the life of your neighbor: I am the LORD." Leviticus 19:16 God does Not Bear False Witness. Satan Does Bear False Witness. "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." Ex. 20:16 & Deuteronomy 19:16-21 There are only two kingdoms, two armies, in the Universe; Satan with his army of servants and Jesus with his army of servants. Those people who gossip; who slander; who bear false witness are actually serving Satan as Satan's servant promoting Satan's will and kingdom in the world. "Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies." John 8:43-44 "they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will." 2 Tim. 2:26 "Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” John 18:37 "Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters." Mth. 12:30 "Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” John 18:36 "...the whole world lies in the power of the evil one." 1 Jn.5:19 "In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers," 2 Cor. 4:4 "No human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God." James 3:8-9 When people gossip about others, they are not just gossiping about people but about God Almighty, and therefore are actually exhibiting their hatred of God by hating God's creation, their fellow man. "And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?' And he said, 'Who are you, Lord?' And he said, 'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.' Acts 9:4-5 When people gossip about Christians they are gossiping about Jesus.
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Blessed is the one who considers the poor![a]
In the day of trouble the Lord delivers him;
2 the Lord protects him and keeps him alive;
he is called blessed in the land;
you do not give him up to the will of his enemies.
3 The Lord sustains him on his sickbed;
in his illness you restore him to full health.[b]
4 As for me, I said, “O Lord, be gracious to me;
heal me,[c] for I have sinned against you!”
5 My enemies say of me in malice,
“When will he die, and his name perish?”
6 And when one comes to see me, he utters empty words,
while his heart gathers iniquity;
when he goes out, he tells it abroad.
7 All who hate me whisper together about me;
they imagine the worst for me.[d]
8 They say, “A deadly thing is poured out[e] on him;
he will not rise again from where he lies.”
9 Even my close friend in whom I trusted,
who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me.
10 But you, O Lord, be gracious to me,
and raise me up, that I may repay them!
11 By this I know that you delight in me:
my enemy will not shout in triumph over me.
12 But you have upheld me because of my integrity,
and set me in your presence forever.
13 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting!
Amen and Amen. Psalm 41
Jesus provides how we are to deal with someone who needs to be confronted for their trespass, their wrongful behavior.
“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.
Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.
Mathew 15:15-17 & 15:21-22
First the one who has been trespassed confronts the trespasser one on one. If the trespasser admits his guilt and makes amends the one who has been trespassed must forgive the trespasser and put an end to the matter. He is not to go tell the whole world what the trespasser has done, that’s not forgiveness.
Second, if the trespasser refuses to admit his guilt and make amends, then the one who suffered the harm is to find two or three witnesses to establish the matter. Once again if the trespasser admits his guilt and makes amends then the one who suffered the harm is to forgive and he along with the two or three witnesses are to put an end to the matter, they are not to spread the report to everyone else.
Three, if the trespasser refuses to admit his guilt and makes amends even after being confronted with two or three witnesses then and only then is the one who suffered the harm allowed to inform everyone what the trespasser has done. Not to victimize the trespasser, but to discipline the trespasser to come to his senses and as a warning to everyone else that this trespasser is not to be trusted until he admits his fault and repents of his wrongful actions.
If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. Do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.
2 Thessalonians 3:15
Gulf War Syndrome
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