One of the things I am having a difficult time teaching my daughter is the difference between gossip and conversation..... She was telling me the other day that she NEVER gossips... so I asked her about the time she told everyone that so and so's dad was a drug dealer... She tells me (this is just so classic) I did not tell EVERYONE..... I just told my friends!!
As a thirteen year old she is running across a lot of stories told to her by different friends... and my very naive daughter believes what people tell her... well everyone other than her parents that is... When I have given her examples of the damage gossip had done when I was a kid - her eyes glazed over... I have brought out numerous Bible verses and again that did not enlighten her... She's a teen and knows more than the Bible and her mom... that's just the way it is right now..... until.... the gossip is about her....
People can be mean... I was just going to say teenagers can be mean... but we live in a mean world where gossip is everywhere.... There's a line in one of my favorite movies - "Never Been Kissed" that comes to mind..... You hurt others because it makes you feel better... And that is so very true... When a gossip is tearing down someone it makes them feel better... makes them feel superior....some people thrive on this and look for opportunities to destroy others.. I tell my daughter to beware... not to confide in others unless she wants everyone to know what she is saying.... in the real world there are very few secrets... especially in the teenage world...
Many a friendship has been ruined over a misunderstanding that started with gossip.. people tend to believe the worst about others... no wonder the tabloids are huge money makers. Simply put gossip is repeating something one heard in confidence or saying something that can hurt or destroy someone.... Gossip is NEVER good...
Proverbs 22:23 Whoever guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from troubles...
3 comments:
Sooooo true. One of my favorite passges about gossip (if you can have a "favorite" verse about something like this - Proverbs 16:28 A perverse man stirs up dissension, and a gossip separates close friends.
That makes me think about just how serious gossip is and how odious it must be to God.
And this isn't just a problem for 13 year olds, but for all of us. Good post.
Gossip can never lead to good things and one thing that bothers me is it seems gossip can happen at any age. I thought I wouldn't have to deal with gossip with my adult friends but sadly that didn't happen. I walked away from those that gossiped because it just isnt't something I want to participate in
Kelly, the other problem with gossip is that it gets distorted and changed by the time it comes back around. So, the info your daughter thinks she is only telling to a few people may not even be the same info that it started out to be. A lot of times people add things to fill in blanks to fill the story in.
I'm with Warren on that verse.
Thanks for sharing.
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