Just Like Cheap Candy

The words of a talebearer are as wounds,
and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.
Proverbs 18:8 (KJV)

The motivation of a gossip is to be in control. For example, to be the one with choice information is to be in control of the conversation; or to have inside information to make another person feel like an outsider is to control the circle of friends.

I will briefly share my experience of 'gossip among friends': a little more than ten years ago I met Ms. S and within months of meeting her, I met Ms. V. Eventually, I introduced my two new friends to each other.

One day Ms. S informed me, “Your so-called-friend Ms. V said this about you….” I was stunned by the cruel words of Ms. V. However, I was more stunned that Ms. S was willing to listen to gossip about me and that she wanted to repeat it to me.

It took me some time to understand that both women wanted to control our circle of friends. Instead of controlling the friendship, they destroyed the friendship.

Let us look again at Proverbs 18:8

“Listening to gossip is like eating cheap candy;
do you really want junk like that in your belly?”
-The Message New Testament