Currently Reading Nothing but Gossip By Marne Davis Kellogg see related

" HEY!!!  Did you hear about this... "

Gossip...man do I hate that word.  People that you thought were trustworthy of handling certain information just go off and blurt the most personal information to those who have no utter business of knowing it.  Even those so called "Friends" of yours are likely to fall into the same trap of hot gossip.  Here is a quote I find interesting relating to gossip and us as fellow brothers and sisters of Christ...

"It is required of us that we be tender of the good name of our brethren; where we cannot speak well, we had better say nothing than speak evil; we must not take pleasure in making known the faults of others, divulging things that are secret, merely to expose them, nor in making more of their known faults than really they deserve, and, least of all, in making false stories, and spreading things concerning them of which they are altogether innocent. What is this but to raise the hatred and encourage the persecutions of the world, against those who are engaged in the same interests with ourselves, and therefore with whom we ourselves must stand or fall? Consider you are brethren. "

- Matthew Henry

The problem with most people divulging information to the public is the fact that many don't realize the complexity of what they are dealing with.  To one person, telling someone that your friend a particular secret might seem no harm, but to the person being talked about...it could change his or her life in drastic ways.  People can have families torn apart, people can be fired from jobs, and friendships can be broken and never repaired.  All because you heard something from somebody else that you can't even back up and decided to tell someone who doesn't even matter to the situation to begin with.  See where this is going???

Your mouth is a dangerous weapon that can be used to hurt people just as much as help.  You may even think you are doing a service for someone, but in actuality you just made their situation 10x worse.  If you get information that seems to be life or death, try to get in touch with that person immediately.  But when it comes to things like other people's personal opinions, crazy experiences, and even relationship matters...it's best to just leave it alone and let the people involved take care it.  Just know that other people's business is not rightly your business.

So...the next time you hear something interesting from a friend, family member, or even complete stranger and you feel the need to talk...what are you going to do?  You gonna tell the masses...or are you gonna think about the effects it might bring once it escapes your mouth...and keep the seemly insignificant information that has more too it than the naked eye to yourself.  You decide...