“And so we slander them by fabricating what is false and malicious; we defame them by letting information stand when we know it to be false; we malign them by spreading rumors to others; we lie about them when we pass along information that is uncorroborated or exaggerated; we gossip against them when we tell third parties what they have no business knowing; we are ungracious to them when we focus more on their flaws than their virtues, more on their weaknesses than their manifold strengths.”
“’Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy,’ says Jesus, and we prove we have been recipients of mercy when we dispense it in turn to our fellow man. And while that mercy comes in many forms—hearts that care, hands that help, words that strengthen—it also finds expression in protecting another person’s name.”
“We act in mercy when we act in their good—to stop gossip rather than pass it on, to overlook offenses rather than make them known, to set aside unconfirmed information rather than believe it, to boast of God’s victories in a life rather than the world’s, the flesh’s, or the devil’s. This is true whether they are friends or family members, obscure or famous, Christians or unbelievers,…” (T. Challies)
Wisdomforlife 