Today’s post is by Amber Van Schooneveld. Amber is the author of Hope Lives: A Journey of Restoration (Group, 2008) and blogs regularly at Clever Phrase Here.
Close your eyes and picture a gossip. Whom do you see? I see a
cluster of spinsters in old lace gloves sweetly spitting vitriol over
tea. Perhaps I read too much Agatha Christie. But even if you don’t have
visions of British spinsters, your vision is most likely female. Am I
right? Counter to our preconceived notions, in my (unfortunate)
experience there are just as many male gossips as female gossips.
The men, however, don’t have the benefit that us ladies do of hearing
much direct exhortation against gossip. Can you imagine a men’s retreat
in which this was the lineup?
- 9:00 a.m.: Becoming a Man After God’s Heart
- 10:30 a.m.: Strength Like Boaz
- 12:00 p.m.: Drum Beating (I assume this is what you do at any good men’s retreat)
- 1:30 p.m.: Taming Your Gossiping Tongue
I can’t.
Despite our feminine visions of the gossip, the Scriptures are
directed as much at the male gossip (let’s call him Carl) as at the
female (let’s call her Sheila), such as this passage in Proverbs:
“There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to
him…[the seventh] a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.” (Proverbs 6:16, 19) Continue Reading...
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