City Life Starter

The Word- Proverbs 16:27-28

“27Scoundrels create trouble; their words are a destructive blaze.

28A troublemaker plants seeds of strife; gossip separates the best of friends.”

Reflection Questions

1. When was the last time your words caused unintentional trouble?
2. When was the last time you intentionally caused trouble with your words?
3. What would you end up discussing if you never gossiped?

By Danielle Clark

The Book of Proverbs is filled with statements of wisdom given from a father to his son. The book portrays a system of justice in which you reap what you sow; unwise decisions lead to bad results, and wise decisions lead to good results. Though cause-and-effect in the real world is often more nuanced and complex than Proverbs presents, this Book allows us to identify the likely, though not guaranteed, consequences of our choices. Today’s verses show us the many consequences of using our words unwisely, including trouble, destruction, strife, and loss of relationships. The verse is not promising that literally every single time you gossip you will lose your best friend, but that gossip has a strong tendency to tear down friendships instead of building them up. Furthermore, one can infer that avoiding gossip helps maintain our relationships.

Application

Fact: You have gossiped about fellow church members, pastoral staff, and your closest friends. I don’t say that to be accusatory, but to bring us all to common ground. I definitely did all of those things last week! Like you, I’d like to believe it was unintentional and harmless, but I must face that it never really is. It is never wrong to reach out to a 3rd party for emotional support, objective advice, or to bring resolution to a troubling situation. However, once you deviate from working to solve a problem, you are likely gossiping and damaging your relationships and trustworthiness. Great, now that we all feel terrible for it, how do we fix it? I don’t know the whole process, but I can suggest reflecting on why you talk about other people. For me, I’ve realized I use gossip to avoid becoming vulnerable in my life. The longer we talk about another person’s sin, the less likely you are to ask me about my sin habits. What conversations are you avoiding by gossiping?