Gossip is the Fuel—Will You Let the Fire Burn? (Proverbs 26:20-22)
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Proverbs 26:20-22
For lack of wood the fire goes out,
and where there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases.
21 As charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire,
so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife.
22 The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels;
they go down into the inner parts of the body.
Ever notice how gossip spreads like wildfire? It really does, and Proverbs today gives us a simple but powerful picture for it:
Fire needs wood. Conflict needs gossip. Take away one, and the other dies.
Whenever the Bible repeats something, you know it’s important. We see that today with the repetition of Proverbs 18:8 here in Proverbs 26:22. Word for word, it’s the same verse:
‘The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels;
they go down into the inner parts of the body.’
The repetition alone should strike the alarm in our minds of the importance of the verse and its content – gossip. But more than that, I think verses 20 and 21 today give some added and much-needed context to verse 22 – to Proverbs 18:8. The reason is that yesterday we spoke about how gossip cuts deep, as it goes ‘down into the inner parts of the body’.
But why does it hurt so much? Why does gossip cut so deep? Proverbs 18:8 doesn’t exactly tell us outright, but today’s verses do.
They show us that gossip fuels strife and conflict and that the absence or removal of gossip brings peace. Let’s read it again, beginning in verse 20:
‘For lack of wood the fire goes out,
and where there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases.
21 As charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire,
so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife.’
Verse 20 there says gossip is to conflict as wood is to fire. It feeds division, fuels bitterness, and keeps the flames of discord burning. When we gossip, we are throwing logs into an already burning fire and causing it to grow, or we are laying the building blocks for future conflict to arise. Either way, the potential for destruction is huge.
But where there is no wood, ‘where there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases.’
The absence of gossip brings peace. I even think the language there gives room to present contention and conflict, and it presents an opportunity to fan that flame, but the wise don’t take the bait. They dampen the fire by not taking the role of whisperer or gossiper.
Now, if we’re honest, we don’t always put out the fire. Sometimes, we add fuel. I know I have. Again, gossiping is enticing… if it weren’t, we’d never do it.
But Jesus calls us to greater things. In Christ we are called to be ‘peacemakers’ (Matthew 5:9). That means shutting down gossip, speaking truth in love, and covering others in grace.
These verses cause me to ask myself and now to ask you:
Do I even realize when gossip sneaks in?
Do I put out the fire, or do I let it burn?
When conflict starts heating up, am I throwing in the water of love or the gas of gossip?
Think of these questions. Really reflect on them with this verse. And let’s pray.
