Wiser and Happier: Special Military Edition from Time of GraceSample

Talking and Listening: News about friends One of my dearest friends loves to yak on the phone, and she is a never-ending source of information about people we know. “But it’s not gossip,” she says. “It’s just news about friends.” How can you tell the difference? Gossip damages people’s reputations. Gossip passes on rumors as though they were truth. Gossips enjoy other people’s difficulties. Gossips try to make themselves taller by stepping on other people. Gossips use behind-the-back talk as a form of revenge. Gossip hurts not only the gossipee but the gossiper as well. “The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to a man’s inmost parts” (Proverbs 18:8). Get the point? Swapping juicy bits of information can taste like chocolate in the mouth, but as you swallow them you poison and corrupt your soul. You know how to keep secrets--it’s part of your training. Use that training when you find out something about one of your friends that they’d prefer nobody knew. When steamy stories are being swapped, speak up for those who aren’t there to speak for themselves. Or do what you can to not be around when that kind of talk heats up. God has a better way. Use your tongue to build up.