Telling lies about others is as harmful as hitting them with an ax, wounding them with a sword, or shooting them with a sharp arrow. – Proverbs 25: 18

Sticks and stones will break your bones, but words? Words will crush your heart.

It doesn’t matter how tough and resilient we think we are.

When folks gossip about us or spread rumors, it’s just plain hurtful.

Backbiting is as commonplace as McDonald’s or Starbucks, so many of us are guilty of it (myself included). But we really have to think about the damage we cause when we do it.

Even if what we’re saying about a person is 100% true (which oftentimes, it isn’t), would we continue our gossip session if that person stepped into the room?  Or would we go silent and change the subject? 

9 times out of 10, we’d change the subject because we know that if the person heard what we were saying, they would be hurt by the malicious and heartless tone of our conversation. 

Yet we continually give ourselves a pass and deceive ourselves into thinking that we’re not harming anyone.   

We backbite because assume nobody’s really being hurt. We think if nobody is there to be offended and nobody is there to check us on our behavior, then it’s okay. But it’s not.

What we all have to be cognizant of is that when we sin against others through gossip, our ultimate target is not the human being we’re talking about. It’s God.

The person may not be in front of us, but God hears everything we say and it pains Him to see others being slandered.

He hates it.

So if we don’t feel comfortable walking up to someone and stabbing them in the arm, we shouldn’t feel comfortable talking about them either.

Instead, we should focus on speaking favorably about others when they’re not around.

Because when they catch wind of it, it will add strength to their bones.

Be blessed,

Alexia

Prayer: God, please forgive me for the times I’ve gossiped and recklessly slandered others. Help me to understand that backbiting is not harmless, but a sin against you that I should avoid. Give me the integrity and strength to shut down slanderous conversations before they start, and help me to lead by example so that others will take note and seek to develop a relationship with you. In Jesus’ Name, I pray, Amen.