Without wood a fire goes out; without gossip a quarrel dies down. Proverbs 26:20
Fuel.
Cars need fuel to be driven. No fuel, no driving. And fires need fuel to burn. No fuel, no burning.
Sometimes, at the heart of conflict are words spoken frivolously by someone who either wants to be in the know or can't stand it when the waters are still. Either way, gossip fuels conflict. There is no way to gossip about someone and for those words to be in a vacuum where the threat of them of spreading doesn't exist.
How many friendships have been damaged or destroyed because someone couldn't keep their mouth shut? How many people have been hurt because someone not only presumed something about another person, but then shared their presumption with an acquaintance?
And worst of all, how many people's souls have been lost by unfair or untrue words spoken about them? How many people have abandoned faith because they were mortally wounded by a person of faith?
Let's remove the fuel that stokes the flames of gossip.
What is your take on this passage?
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My take is that if you don't use the fuel that starts the madness that is gossip, the fire does not even come close to getting started. That's why it is very important to be careful what you say before you say it. One bad word is like a powderkeg just waiting for the fuse to be lit. don't even go there.
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