A wicked man listens to evil lips; a liar pays attention to a malicious tongue. (Proverbs 17:4 NIV)
Here is an interesting verse I came across in my devotions this morning. Now we know that gossip is always condemned in our Bible. Hopefully, you and I will not participate in gossip, ever, for to do so would be sin. I came across a definition of gossip once, which I've used ever since. "Gossip is anything spoken about another person outside their hearing, which does not edify them, or build them up." That's a tough definition to integrate into our own speech patterns, isn't it? I struggle with it, and I'm sure you do to. Let's pray for each other that we can learn to not gossip!
But that verse in Proverbs says something even more troubling - it's not only the speaker who is in the wrong - but the listener! The one who listens to gossip is wicked! The one who pays attention to lies is a liar!
So we need to expand our prayer this morning, don't we? "Lord, help us as believers to not only abandon evil lips, but also evil ears!"
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