What Does the Bible Say About Gossip?

Our Heavenly family is a lot like our earthly family. Many earthly families don't all get along with each other. They have different opinions or act differently; many families have that one outcast that is really strange for some reason. But I'd like to think that at the end of the day most of those families all still love each other, because they are family.

So why don't people feel this way about their heavenly family? Why should that family be any different? Why can't people accept the Christians who dress differently or listen to different music or don't have the same amount of wealth? Instead of loving other Christians because they are part of our family there is a lot of gossip in the church. Even though that goes against what we are told in the Bible.

Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. - James 4:11

In this verse the word brother does mean earthly brother, but it means a relationship between any two Christians. As Christians we should not say things that will cause others to be hurt. When someone says something that will hurt another they are disobeying the great law in Matthew 22:39 "Love thy neighbor as thyself."

As James 4:11 says, when you gossip about somebody you judge them. There is only one judge and that is God. God is the only one with the authority to make the law. If you gossip about somebody and are judging them, you are basically putting yourself on the same level of God. Someone who judges also disobeys God's law and makes their own. Now not only have you hurt one of your fellow Christians but you're treading on some very dangerous grounds when you think you're better than or equal to God.

It is also not ok to gossip because "they started it." One of the most basic principles of Christianity is forgiveness. If you haven't learned how to forgive people for their mistakes yet, then you are going to have a lot of problems with abiding all the other laws too.