The tongue is a powerful thing. It can comfort the grieving with kindness and concern, and it can destroy a person’s credibility and good reputation. It can build up brethren and it can destroy churches. “Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell” (Jas. 3:5).

We must learn to restrain our tongue by controlling our heart. Jesus said what comes out of the mouth defiles the man because it comes from the heart (Matt. 15:11, 18). One such defilement is gossip.

Gossip is a sin. It does not show love for one’s neighbor, nor does it show evidence of tongue-control (1 Cor. 13:4-7; Matt. 22:39; Jas. 3:8).

The person who gossips is a talebearer. “He who covers a transgression seeks love, But he who repeats a matter separates friends” (Prov. 17:9). To the gossip – and the person who listens to it - a morsel of information about somebody else is delightfully feasted upon: “The words of a talebearer are like tasty trifles, And they go down into the inmost body” (Prov. 18:8). But, the gossip fails to realize that the food of gossip is poisonous to his soul.

The person who gossips sows strife. “The person who gossips is a slanderer” (Prov. 16:28). One who “sows discord among brethren” is an abomination to the Lord (Prov. 6:16, 19).

The person who gossips is a slanderer. “Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, Him I will destroy; The one who has a haughty look and a proud heart, Him I will not endure” (Psa. 101:5).

The person who gossips is a busybody. “But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people’s matters” (1 Pet. 4:15; see 2 Ths. 3:11). To gossip is to meddle in the lives of others.

Idleness invites gossiping: “And besides they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house, and not only idle but also gossips and busybodies, saying things which they ought not” (1 Tim. 5:13). If you are tempted to gossip about others it could be you have too much time on your hands. Use your time productively to bear the fruit of righteousness instead of the fruit of destruction.

The tongue requires constant surveillance: “But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.” (Jas. 3:8) We cannot turn our back on the tongue for a second! Keep constant vigilance over it to use it for a blessing rather than a curse (see Jas. 3:9-12). By keeping a pure heart we help prevent gossip (Phil. 4:8).