Putting An End To Gossip

Renouncing Gossip

2025 Theme:  Faithfulness

Series Title:  Gossip:  Destroyer of Trust

Scripture:  1 John 1:1-10

February 23^rd, 2025

Something to think about:

As we close out our series today on the damaging effects of gossip, we will explore how we can eliminate it from our lives altogether.  Recognizing it is one thing, resisting it another, and responding to is quite another, but the goal of the believer’s life is to relinquish gossip’s control completely.  We turn to the writings of John in his first letter to the church to learn how to break the stronghold of sin and live a life of freedom in Christ:

1 John 1:1-10 (NLT),

We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning,^* whom we have heard and seen.  We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands.  He is the Word of life.  ² This one who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen him.  And now we testify and proclaim to you that he is the one who is eternal life.  He was with the Father, and then he was revealed to us.  ³ We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us.  And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.  ⁴ We are writing these things so that you may fully share our joy.^*

⁵ This is the message we heard from Jesus^* and now declare to you:  God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all.  ⁶ So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth.  ⁷ But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.

⁸ If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth.  ⁹ But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.  ¹⁰ If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.^[1]

Key Point:  “Renouncing gossip requires humility and repentance.”

So what should we do if we find ourselves falling into the trap of sin; specifically the sin of gossip?  What should we do if we’re guilty and need to change?  Pastor Matthew Mitchell suggests that we must first…

•  of our sinful gossip.

1 John 1:9 (NLT),  But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.

•  the sinful gossip.

1 John 1:7 (NLT),  But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other…

•  Jesus’ cleansing and forgiveness.

1 John 1:7, 9 (NLT),  ⁷ But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. …

⁹ But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. 

Something to take home:

1 John 1:5-10 (NLT),  ⁵ This is the message we heard from Jesus^* and now declare to you:  God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all.  ⁶ So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth.  ⁷ But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.

⁸ If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth.  ⁹ But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.  ¹⁰ If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.

Let us cast off all sin, including the sin of gossip.  Let’s repent of it, retract it through the process of reconciliation, and let us embrace the forgiveness and cleansing that the blood of Jesus gives us when we truly believe.

Key Point:  “Renouncing gossip requires humility and repentance.”

^* 1:1 Greek What was from the beginning.

^* 1:4 Or so that our joy may be complete; some manuscripts read your joy.

^* 1:5 Greek from him.

^[1] Tyndale House Publishers. 2015. Holy Bible: New Living Translation. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.

^* 1:5 Greek from him.