As a Christain how do you handle when you find your brothers and sisters in Christ gossip about you?

Question

Please be honest about your true first reaction,we all know we are called to forgive.Give an example if you can.

Answer 1

Wow.. That's a good one. God bless you.
I have gone to the one closes to me and ask them to forgive me for whatever I've done to offend them to make them talk about me, and let things flow from there. Sometimes it will break that spirit, then other times it will continue on there self righteous hearts. If it continues just keep on going with Jesus. He is what this life is all about anyway.
I didn't mean that you actually did anything to them. This is the way I have approached things such as this in my 25 year walk with the Lord.

Answer 2

This gossip itself would eliminate these individuals from being my brother/sisters in Christ for gossip is not looked upon as a christian trait, but we should remember to hate the sin and love the sinner so remind them that what they are doing is incorrect and to ask forgiveness for it and follow in Christlike manner in the future.

Answer 3

You go to them and confront them in love with a few witnesses, so the problem will not escalate, and you pray from them. I find it the most discouraging when other believers gossip and are malicious, for it makes us hypocrites, but it seems that most churches have this problem. I have unfortunately encountered this problem quite frequently in our church. My father is a minister, and the minister's family tends to draw quite alot of gossip, from "I cannot believe that the pastor's daughter wore that!" to rumors about my parents marriage and their parented skills. Generally the best thing to do is address the person that is gossipping directly to help them understand the impact of words, and that we are all fallible and prone to making mistakes. Believers in Christ need to realize that we cannot talk about others faults because we ourselves have our own to deal with first.

Answer 4

I have learned to take it as a compliment. People most often gossip about that which they are jealous of. In my work a lot of people from outside tend to get jealous because it a rather high profile profession. People do not see the long nights, time away from family, personal threats, lonely times, temptations, etc.

I am a Pastor/Evangelist

Answer 5

Sister my personal propose from seeing such issues as this take position in the previous should be to enable both men artwork it out. go away what takes position on their interest on the interest and allow them and their supervisors to come back to a bring about this. i comprehend it really is each and every moms prefer to seem out for her toddlers, both you and the different mom prefer to cope with to guard the mission to maintain away from complications between your sons. notwithstanding doing so may deliver about resentments and complications all the way round. You 2 moms in my humble opinion prefer to enable this be. If it does no longer workout consultation the way one or the different choose it to, then it may force a wedge between you and this different sister that extremely does no longer prefer to be there. they're operating jointly and that is the position it needs to be left. Love them both, pray for them both, pray for the manager that has to make the alternative that God handbook him/her to do what's merely and proper in the mission. or you are able to finally end up no longer merely at odds over the artwork mission yet besides with the different mom. God bless will be preserving your mission in prayer the following.

Answer 6

At first I am hurt...which is completely normal.
Even worse, the last time this happened it was actually my real brothers and sisters, some in Christ and some not.
I finally gave the hurt to God and forgave them.
People are human....I hurt other's feelings sometimes and I have to ask for forgiveness.

Answer 7

Pray and then forgive them. I realize that just because one is a christian does not mean they are not also human. I have had to ask forgiveness for my own "gossip" that I unthinkingly helped to spread.
Even just a simple comment you hear at a get together can trigger you to even just tell your best friend because you think it is bizarre, but in that one act, you are contributing to gossip.
I hope this helps.
Good Luck!

Answer 8

Ouch! That is a hurtful thing. In a Bible journal, another asked this question: what should I do if people gossip about me? She was speaking of her fellow Christians. So I simply cited the information in its entirety below. I truly hope it helps you and gives you food for thought.

"No doubt about it: It really hurts when personal information is leaked to others or when you are the victim of a false rumor or gossip. Feelings of anger and vengeance may accompany periods of hurt and depression. “It makes you feel as if you want to hurt the person,” said one victim of gossip. Another said: “You feel crushed; it is like being stabbed in the back. It can make you feel as if you never want to speak to them again. Your trust is gone, and you just can’t stop thinking about the problem.”

Before you do anything, remember: “He that is quick to anger will commit foolishness.” (Proverbs 14:17) The message? Do not overreact! Hasty actions often create more problems than they solve. Cautions the Bible: “Do not hurry yourself in your spirit to become offended, for the taking of offense is what rests in the bosom of the stupid ones.” Why? For one thing, you simply cannot stop people from talking about other people. Being talked about is just a part of life. Solomon further advised: “Do not give your heart to all the words that people may speak . . . For your own heart well knows even many times that you, even you, have called down evil upon others.”—Ecclesiastes 7:9, 21, 22.

Proverbs 14:15 says that “the shrewd one considers his steps.” This would suggest calmly mapping out a strategy to deal effectively with gossip.

You might begin by considering how serious the gossip is. Perhaps the story circulating about you, while embarrassing or even untrue, is genuinely amusing and really does not besmirch your character. In other words, you would have preferred that the world not know of your locking yourself out of your own house during a rainstorm or of your splitting your gym shorts while doing sit-ups, but now that the word is out, is it really such a disaster? Perhaps the best way to let the rumor die is to display a sense of humor.

Suppose, though, that the rumor is really uncomplimentary or insulting? Is it really likely to cause lasting damage to your reputation—or will it more likely die out soon? If the latter seems true, it may be best simply to ride out the storm. Keeping a ‘business as usual’ demeanor—rather than going about sulking or looking guilty—will at least prevent your fueling the rumor. Says Proverbs 26:20: “Where there is no wood the fire goes out, and where there is no slanderer contention grows still.”

Sometimes, though, the matter is too serious to ignore. Jesus Christ advised his followers what to do when someone caused a personal offense such as by slander: “Go lay bare his fault between you and him alone.” (Matthew 18:15) It might be possible then to trace the harmful talk to its source and calmly discuss matters with the individual responsible for starting the rumor.

True, that person may not be a Christian. But if you know that the person is reasonable, perhaps he or she will respond favorably. It may turn out that the whole matter is the result of some serious misunderstanding. If animosity is at the root, perhaps the matter can be ironed out between you.

Often, though, it is very difficult to track down the source of a rumor. And even if you can, the one responsible may not be willing to own up to the indiscretion. What then? Remember that Jesus Christ was the victim of “contrary talk.” (Hebrews 12:3) Jesus, however, did not become so upset that he abandoned his preaching work and set out to track down the person who started this troublesome talk. Rather, he said: “Wisdom is proved righteous by its works.”—Matthew 11:19."

Answer 9

We are taught in the Scriptures (Matthew and 1 Cor.) that when another Christian sins against us that we are to go to that person and tell them the sin. If they listen and repent, it is good. However, if they don't, we are taught to take two or three witnesses with us and approach them again. If they listen and repent, good. If they do not, take it to the church. If they listen and repent, good. If they do not, then they must be cast out (of the church) until they see sin they are committing and repent.

Of course we forgive them. However, that doesn't mean we put ourselves in that situation again.

Best wishes!

Answer 10

I put them out of my life and don't think about them anymore. Getting away from them helps to forgive....I did not come to the Lord to replay middle school or to have a social life.....
I had plenty of that before I became a Christian.