In our early years of marriage, Anita and I lived in an old farmhouse with an old wood burning, gravity feed, furnace. I remember it took an incredible amount of wood to heat that old place.  I also remember trying to keep that furnace going all night long on those cold nights. When the fire burned up the wood, it went out. No fuel, no fire.

Similarly, when gossip reaches the ear of someone who will not repeat it, it dies. We like to hear gossip and share it will others because it “Tastes good” (Prov. 26:22). Gossip is rooted in our need to feel good about ourselves. As we bring others down, we gain the illusion that we are moving upward.

Proverb 26:20 says, “Where there is no wood, the fire goes out; and where there is no talebearer, strife ceases.”

What gossip will you stop today?

Tags: fire, gossip, self-esteem