Proverbs 25:23 As surely as a north wind brings rain, so a gossiping tongue causes anger!

      John Osteen said, “Keep your words sweet because you might have to eat them one day.”
      As sure as the laws of nature work all around us each and every day, so does the laws of the spoken word that proceeds from our hearts then out of our mouths. Matt. 12:34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. Someone might say, “Oh, I’m sorry, I did not mean to say that in anger.” Yes, you did, because it came from within your heart. That anger was there in your heart and that is what came out of your mouth. This is a law of life. Most assuredly, apologize, but remember it was there. 
      What is the root of that anger? That should be the question foremost in our minds so that we can get rid of the root problem of bitterness. If the angry words of backbiting could have been curtailed in that moment of uncontrolled verbal abuse, there would not have been the damage to a soul or a relationship that blew up in a hurtful result. 
      How often have people wished they could have taken back the angry words that had been spoken? How often has a piece of gossip slipped through our lips to cause irreparable damage? Someone said, “Gossip is as vicious as murder; the difference is we are killing a soul rather than a body.” This is why God admonishes us to speak words of blessing and honor to nurture and bring healing to relationships and set the souls of those who are hurting free from the shackles of wounding words. Prov. 25:11 A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.
      We see the reaction of Michal when she sees King David dancing as the ark of God was brought back into the city of David. 2 Sam. 6:16 And as the ark of the LORD came into the city of David, Michal Saul’s daughter looked through a window, and saw king David leaping and dancing before the LORD; and she despised him in her heart. The words that come from Michal’s mouth are a result of what was in her heart. She could not disguise the anger and hatred that came forth. 2 Sam. 6:20 Then David returned to bless his household. And Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, How glorious was the king of Israel to day, who uncovered himself to day in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants, as one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovers himself! 
      It is not recorded in the description of this story in scripture, but the amount of gossip that went on in the palace over this event must have been perpetually whispered about because the result in Michal’s life was barrenness. There seems to be a precedent set in her lifetime from the day of that event. She was stuck in a hurt and now would be the subject of a gossip mill. 2 Sam. 6:23 Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had no child unto the day of her death. 
      Michal could have repented of her anger and malicious thoughts toward David because there was grace in the covenant for that. Yet, she was bound by the words that came out in the heated argument until her death. Had the continual gossip taken on a life of its own, thus keeping Michal bound by her own anger. Was the hurt a tool of the enemy to keep Michal justifying her anger and thus creating a self-barrenness? I’m not sure, but it is a sad story like so many other sad stories that never get resolved because of anger and the gossip that keeps it going.
      Words give life or death. The way we use them can bring healing or destruction. We have been given the power of words by our Creator to create an Eden or a Hades for ourselves and everyone we meet. Psalm 19:14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer. May it be said of us who follow Christ that we took our tongues and did not lend them to gossip but used them to bring about the blessing of the Kingdom of God. 
      Our tongues were bought along with the rest of us at the Cross of the Lord Jesus. As my friend Jami Rogers says, “I’m not for sale, I have already been bought and paid for in full by the Lord Jesus.” Our lives and everything about our lives belong to the Lord and that includes our words that proceed out of our mouths.
      Interesting that the Proverb indicates that anger is one of the results of gossip. Prov. 25:23 As surely as a north wind brings rain, so a gossiping tongue causes anger! If we were to cut down on gossip, would that cut down on the anger that is in this world? The only way we are going to find out is to stop the fine art of gossiping that has wormed its way into our everyday conversations. Prov. 18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. May the Lord help us all overcome this sin. Amen!