Read Joshua 8, Jeremiah 34, and Proverbs 16:16-33.
This devotional is about Proverbs 16:28 NIV: “A perverse person stirs up conflict, and a gossip separates close friends.”
The book of Proverbs says a lot about the power of words and the part of Proverbs that we read today says a lot about our words, too. See verses 21, 23, 24, 27, and 30 for other verses in this chapter that talk about what we say.
But, again, let’s focus on verse 28: “A perverse person stirs up conflict, and a gossip separates close friends.” The word “perverse” means “confusing” or “deceitful.” It has the idea of someone who is deliberately dishonest. That kind of a person will say and do things that intentionally mislead people. He will tell lies, if necessary, but he will also (and maybe more often) just suggest or imply things that are untrue to deliberately mislead people. This proverb says that someone like that “stirs up conflict.” So much of our media is designed to do this. Misleading headlines, selective use of data, quotes out of context, and sometimes pure lies are published as facts. What happens? People start arguing; that’s what happens. Nobody changes their mind because of a meme or a tweet or a Facebook post. People just get mad and start arguing.
Our God is a God of truth, so we need to be truthful in the things we say. If you can’t be honest, then be quiet. If you do say something, make sure what you say is both truthful and not misleading. And, for goodness sake, don’t just retweet or repost anything you read because you want to “own” people who share a different point of view than yours. A direct, honest conversation about principles and morals is much more effective and beneficial to others than simply reposting something that has a dubious connection to the truth. I assume that most of what I read is designed to mislead me in some way. In our world, skepticism about any claim or reporting is wise and warranted, in my opinion.
But, let’s return to Proverbs 16:28 because the last part of the verse says, “…a gossip separates close friends.” Gossip is speech about unsavory details in someone else’s life. If you say “I wonder if Bob’s marriage is in trouble” you are speculating, out loud about someone else’s life. That’s gossip. If the person you gossipped to repeats the gossip, it starts to spread. This kind of sinful speech “separates close friends” according to our verse, Proverbs 16:28.
A lot of relationship damage is done in our world by gossip and misleading, even untruthful, communication. Watch what you say! And, watch how you say it, too. Are your words true? Are they spoken to do good? If you aren’t sure of the answer to either of these, God’s wisdom to you is, “Keep your mouth shut.”
Keep your ears shut to this kind of communication, too. Your life will be better for it. God’s word says so.