GOSSIP AND SLANDER IIII

Gossip and Slander are forms of an evil report. Evil reports influence us to form bad opinions of each other.

Definitions of this issue:

Busybody- Digs up evil reports and spreads it around by means of whispering, gossip, or slander.

“And besides that, going around from house to house they learn to be lazy, and they are not only lazy, but also gossips and busybodies, talking about things they should not.” (1 Timothy 5:13)

“For when we were with you, we commanded you that if any will not work, neither shall he eat. For we hear that there are some among you who live in idleness, mere busybodies, not working at all. Now, concerning those who are such, we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ that they quietly work and eat their own bread.” (2 Thessalonians 3:10-12)

The text in Timothy above mentions “going around from house to house” and I think in our time we could as easily say ‘going from blog to blog,’ or ‘site to site,’ or ‘social platform to social platform,’ or ‘news channel to news channel,’ or ‘church to church,’ or ‘talk show to talk show.’ As Titus describes it: “For there are many rebellious people who engage in useless talk and deceive others.” (1:10) He continues: “Everything is pure to those whose hearts are pure. But nothing is pure to those who are corrupt and unbelieving, because their minds and consciences are corrupted. Such people claim they know God, but they deny him by the way they live. They are detestable and disobedient, worthless for doing anything good.” (1:15-16)

Busybodies come from the disintegration of virtue and with this comes the disintegration of society.
“God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.” Jesus