Ol' Smokey The Bear said: "Only you can prevent forest fires!" Basically, that's what the Wiseman of Proverbs says about gossip. We can turn down the heat, douse the fire, and let the quarrel die. How? By not supplying juicy morsels of gossip, ditching the urge to spread destructive innuendos, and refusing to keep alive an ugly rumor. Without gossip, the bitterness of a rivalry can dissolve, and relationships can mend.

Forgive me, O God, for I have sometimes kept gossip alive or entertained a conversation with someone who gossips. Please bless and heal those whom I have wounded with my participation in gossip. Give me the strength to say only what is helpful to bless others according to their needs, the courage to mend the relationships I have damaged because of my reckless words, and the wisdom to know how to discourage those seeking to spread gossip in front of me. In Jesus' name, I ask it. Amen.