The talk of the Town

1. Biblical scholars recently unearthed a previously unknown gospel written by a disciple named "Rusty".
2. Shania Twain is Mark Twain's great-granddaughter.
3. John F. Kennedy was an accomplished ventriloquist.
4. Contrary to popular belief, the white is not the healthiest part of an egg. It's actually the shell.
5. Adding baking soda and vinegar will make your scrambled eggs fluffier.
6. Penguins can smell toothpaste from several miles away.
7. In 1984, an Ohio family visiting New York City stood at a broken DON'T WALK sign for three days.
8. M & Ms were candy-coated peas during a chocolate shortage in the 1950s.
9. The flush toilet was invented in Flushing, NY.
10. At thirteen hospitals around the country, there is a Dr. Pepper on staff.

Of course, none of the preceding statements are true. They are slander and gossip! Lately I have been battling this enemy of God. As far as I know, I didn’t start, spread or agree with what I heard. But I have heard quite a bit in the last few weeks. Not only at work and my personal life but also at Church.

It has concerned me and it has been wearing on my soul. So my topic for this Men of Action writing is, “How can we be an effective witness for Christ if we are deceiving ourselves with our own words?”

Remember this, “Sticks and stones may break your bones, but words can never hurt you.” Try telling that to a wife whose husband screams, “I hate you.” Try telling that to a middle- aged woman who tells herself, I’m’ fat and ugly.” - Words can and do hurt all the time. They hurt us, others, and God.


Proverbs 18:8 The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to a man's inmost parts.

This tells us “That what we say, we take in ourselves, into our inmost parts.” You are what you eat. This is something we have heard most of our lives. It’s really common sense isn’t it? If we want to keep our physical body running healthy, we need to eat healthy. If we want to keep our spiritual bodies healthy, we must choose our words in a healthy sense.

Proverbs 16:24 Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.


We must abstain from Gossip, name calling, and sarcasm. It is very tempting at times and we want to act out, we want to scream, we want to cave in and lash out at individuals or situations. And sometimes we do. Maybe we say something negative about someone but it is something small and we try to justify it and tell ourselves “It’s no big deal, it’s just a small word and it won’t really hurt us at all.” Then we wake up the next day and we feel horrible about what we said.

Maybe the world’s temptations are too strong at times and we cave in completely and gorge ourselves with Gossip, Slander, Cursing, and Screaming. It may feel great at the time but then it sets in and we realize that we have just hurt our example and we cannot perform as we need to as a Christian.

James 1:26 If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.

Careless words hurt us and our testimony. How can we expect to do God’s will if we are corrupting ourselves with harmful words? Some of us beat ourselves up verbally don’t we? We beat ourselves up with negative thoughts. “I’m fat, I’m unattractive, I’m stupid, and I’m a horrible person.”

What kind of words do you speak to yourself? Are they words of encouragement and self-esteem? Do your words reflect the fact that God created you in His image and that He loves you? If not, they should!


Leviticus 19:16 “‘Do not go about spreading slander among your people. Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor's life.

Gossip and slander can ruin friendships, by placing doubt in our minds; it can ruin reputations and tear apart lives. Gossip can have devastating lifelong effects on lives. Like a glowing ember in a forest of dry trees, the fire of gossip is far from harmless. One dropped spark from its fire has the potential to set off a blaze that burns a person’s dignity and reputation.

Don’t fan the flame of gossip by repainting it. Carefully keep sensitive matters concerning others on a need-to-know basis, respecting privacy as you would like them to respect yours.

Luke 6:31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.

Slander” is a word that has an interesting origin. It comes from the word “Devil.” According to the Dictionary, slander means “malicious talk; to spread damaging information; to defame; to speak ill of.” Is it no wonder where slander derives its name?


Slander is the work of the Devil, and those who slander is on his team. In fact the Bible says that Satan is called the “accuser of the brethren”

Exodus 16:20 "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.”

“Gossip” is derived from the idea of “whispering.” Gossip” means “To indulge in idle talk or rumors about others; spreading of sensational stories.”

As a Christian do you occasionally slip up and commit a murder here or there? Or how about theft, burglary or steal things from the store? You may think this is silly to ask. Christian lifestyles shouldn’t behave that way. But how about gossip or slander?

Do you engage in idle talk or rumors about others? Do you participate in bad-mouthing or spreading rumors about others? According to the Bible, which sin is less severe? Murder or gossip? Paul said, BOTH are sins equally worthy of death.

Words can and do hurt all the time! They hurt us, others, and they hurt God. You can be the talk of the town by saying, “You are God’s kids! And God loves you”

That’s the only gossip I want to hear!