Thoughts on Today's Verse

"Without wood a fire goes out; without gossip a quarrel dies down." Proverbs 26:20

Thoughts on Today's Verse by Phil Ware

Ol' Smokey The Bear said: "Only you can prevent forest fires!"

Basically, that's what the Wiseman says about gossip. We can turn down the heat, douse the fire, and let the quarrel die.

How?

By not supplying juicy morsels of gossip, by ditching the urge to spread destructive innuendo, by refusing to keep alive an ugly rumor, among other discrete uses of our tongue. Without gossip, the bitterness of a rivalry can dissolve and relationships can mend.

My Prayer...

Forgive me, O God, for the times I have kept gossip alive or have entertained the conversation of a gossip. Please bless and heal those whom I have wounded with my participation in gossip. Give me the strength to say only what is helpful to bless others, the courage to mend the relationships that I have damaged because of reckless words, and the wisdom to know how to discourage those seeking to spread gossip.

In Jesus' name I ask it. Amen.