As I watch the tragic fire at the Notre Dame Cathedral on the internet, it is still burning out of control. I don’t know the details, but it obviously has plenty of fuel to keep it burning. The brave firemen are doing all they can to contain it and put it out, but without their intervention it will keep burning until it runs out of flammable material.
Harsh words and gossip are like fuel to arguments and bad relationships between people and groups. Until that ends or it is extinguished with kindness and words of peace, the quarrel will never end. Use your words to bring healing and not division. God calls us to be peacemakers and ambassadors of his kingdom. How can we do that if we participate in gossip, slander, and quarrels.
Choose your words wisely and lift others up. Forgive others so that you may be forgiven and God will reward you and bless you.
Proverbs 26:20 (MSG) - “When you run out of wood, the fire goes out; when the gossip ends, the quarrel dies down.”