Misery's Magnet

Misery loves company.....and gossipers are quick to gather!

The moment trouble hits your life, people are watching. They don’t rush in to pray for you, encourage you, or offer a helping hand. 

They rush to spread it.

The phone rings. The text goes out. The whispers start.

But notice this.....they very rarely speak to you, the one actually living it. They speak about you, because gossip is easier than compassion, and whispers are cheaper than real love.

The Bible doesn’t soften its words here. Proverbs 16:28 says: “A froward man soweth strife: and a whisperer separateth chief friends.” 

Gossip destroys relationships. It rips apart trust and it separates even the closest of friends.

Gossip is not a small matter in God's eyes. Romans 1:29 says: “Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers.” 

Whisperers (gossipers) are listed right beside murderers. That’s how serious it is.

Why? Because gossip murders reputations. It kills trust. It poisons families, friendships, workplaces, and entire communities. 

It may not shed blood, but it leaves casualties everywhere it goes.

Paul saw it too. In 2 Corinthians 12:20 he warned of finding “…debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults.” 

Whisperings are chaos. 

Gossip is not harmless—it is destructive, divisive, and deadly.

Yet most people treat it like it’s no big deal. We wrap it in false concern: “I just wanted to let you know so you could pray.” Or we excuse it as venting, curiosity, or keeping people informed. 

But let’s be real.....God knows the difference!

Ephesians 4:29 is crystal clear: “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.”

If your words don’t build up, they tear down. 

If they don’t minister grace, they spread corruption. 

Period.

So here’s the truth: gossip is sin. 

It is not entertainment. 

It is not connection. 

It is not harmless chatter. 

It is sin, and it destroys.

The next time you feel the urge to whisper someone else’s misfortune, stop. Ask yourself....would I say this if they were in the room? Does this build them up, or tear them down? Am I spreading grace, or am I spreading death?

Because misery may attract company, but gossip is the company of fools. 

And love.....the kind of love God calls us to....doesn’t whisper. It prays. It protects. It heals.