TODAY’S BIBLE READING:
Lamentations 1:1–2:22
Philemon 1:1-25
Psalm 101:1-8
Proverbs 26:20
TODAY’S BIBLE VERSE(S):
Proverbs 26:20 (NLT) “Fire goes out without wood, and quarrels disappear when gossip stops.”
REFLECTIONS ON TODAY’S BIBLE VERSE(S):
It seems as if gossip is a theme that keeps popping up in our daily readings. So, we’ll address it again.
In our Verses for Today, we see a Proverb that compares one thing to the other. The first word picture that is mentioned is this: “Fire goes out without wood.”
That is easy to understand, isn’t it? If there is no wood, a fire goes out. If you want a fire to keep burning, add wood. It’s really that simple.
Then, the Proverb compares it to something else: “And quarrels disappear when gossip stops.”
Do you want quarrels to stop? Then stop the gossip. Do you want quarrels to keep going? Then keep gossiping.
It’s really that easy. Gossip is like wood on a fire that keeps the fiery quarreling going. Christians who are serious about following Jesus should be engaged in neither.
Let’s end by defining our terms. What is gossip, after all? It seems to me that gossip is when we say something bad about someone else (it may be true and it may be false) to someone who doesn’t need to know.
Are you guilty of that? Then please stop because it is something that the Lord absolutely despises. Read the following verses where it tells us of the things that the Lord hates, paying special attention to the seventh thing.
Proverbs 6:16-19
16 “There are six things that the LORD hates,
seven that are an abomination to him:
17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
and hands that shed innocent blood,
18 a heart that devises wicked plans,
feet that make haste to run to evil,
19 a false witness who breathes out lies,
and one who sows discord among brothers.”
Matt’s Musings 