These people will gossip to those who don't know us well, planting seeds that make us look insane or simply unworthy of love and respect.
They will even take a half-truth and add their own ideas to the stories so that others dislike us without even knowing our lives.
When we encounter those who gossip and those who listen to them, we are free to choose to avoid them. They are dedicated to misunderstanding everything we say and do, so we have no obligation to spend time with them.
Normal, loving, and kind people do not use manipulative tricks to hurt others; it never even comes to mind for those who love Christ. The key to our existence here on earth is to love Christ so much that we do not miss the relationships we never had or we have lost.
Keep in mind that you cannot lose what you never had. If the gossip has isolated you from some people you thought loved you then those people never really loved you or they would not believe the gossip.
Proverbs 16:27-29 "…27A worthless man digs up evil, and his speech is like a scorching fire. 28A perverse man spreads dissension, and a gossip divides close friends. 29A violent man entices his neighbor and leads him down a path that is not good.…"
Life is full of gossipers and their followers, but those who do not love Christ need not be a part of our lives; we get to choose who our loyal companions are. We are allowed to walk away from those who do not walk the narrow road with us and who work to undermine our relationship with Christ through mocking, manipulation, and disrespect.
When Christ loves us, and others who love Christ also love us, we can choose those people for our support.
Proverbs 18:24 "A person of too many friends comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother."
