Avoiding Gossip

By Elton Camp

“But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give
account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified,
and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.” Mathew 12: 36, 37

Gossip was started by Satan in the Garden of Eden

Eve believed the forbidden fruit they were needin’
She passed the word of the serpent along to her mate
And the final result, both of them soon came to hate

Gossiping and listening have continued up to this day

Very few can claim that they never have done that way
“I don’t know whether this is true or not” is their word
But then they proceed to repeat the thing they have heard

But wait, this applies not only to “them,” but also to me

I can’t rightly make the claim to be of hurtful gossip free
First of all, I need to remove the rafter out of my own eye
Only then to extract the straw from my neighbor’s I can try

Gossip can be deliberate and done with all malicious intent

But also, as nothing other than harmless chat it can be meant
But we must consider that each time the story is repeated,
Evil additions can be made while any good is also deleted

Listen to what I heard.