Proverbs 26
The concept of these verses was so important, it was included twice, also found in Proverbs 18:8, ‘The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels; they go down into the inner parts of the body.’
We know from many passages of Scripture that God hates gossip and slander, yet it’s one of the most common “respectable sins” of all time.
We’ve all been on the giving or receiving end at one time or another.
Why is that?
Why are we so quick to judge / take down / spread rumours about our neighbour—whom we are actually to love?
Is it just our love of self at work, wanting to be perceived as superior? Do we think we somehow “go up” when we put others down? Why is it so commonplace and socially acceptable or hard to rebuke and stop as a bystander?
Something to self-reflect on. --- Like a madman who throws firebrands, arrows, and death is the man who deceives his neighbor and says, “I am only joking!” For lack of wood the fire goes out, and where there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases. As charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife. The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels; they go down into the inner parts of the body. Like the glaze covering an earthen vessel are fervent lips with an evil heart. Proverbs 26:18-23 | ESV
We know from many passages of Scripture that God hates gossip and slander, yet it’s one of the most common “respectable sins” of all time.
We’ve all been on the giving or receiving end at one time or another.
Why is that?
Why are we so quick to judge / take down / spread rumours about our neighbour—whom we are actually to love?
Is it just our love of self at work, wanting to be perceived as superior? Do we think we somehow “go up” when we put others down? Why is it so commonplace and socially acceptable or hard to rebuke and stop as a bystander?
Something to self-reflect on. --- Like a madman who throws firebrands, arrows, and death is the man who deceives his neighbor and says, “I am only joking!” For lack of wood the fire goes out, and where there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases. As charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife. The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels; they go down into the inner parts of the body. Like the glaze covering an earthen vessel are fervent lips with an evil heart. Proverbs 26:18-23 | ESV