1 Samuel 25:14
“Now one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying, ‘Look, David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master; and he reviled them.’”

There are people who will hear things you do not know about and will be willing to share such info with you. Be attentive. It is foolhardy to think you can know all things or hear all things without the help of these quiet whisperers.

Now I know that many people may consider such persons gossipers (and may be they are), but I will like to call them “holy gossipers.” Can a gossiper ever be considered holy and worthy? Yes, they can. It all depends on the intent.

What separates a regular gossiper from a holy gossiper is that the latter is bent on genuinely bringing about good from disclosing secret information from one person to another. Gossiping for gossiping sake is wrong. Gossiping to build lives is holy.

It’s normal that we are unhappy when someone takes our information and shares it with others, without first seeking our permission. But if the purpose is to save life and it is done with humility and love, then we need to embrace this as God’s grace.

A young man who had observed Nabal’s interactions with David’s men, had quickly gone to Abigail and “gossiped” to her, all that her husband had said and done. He even went further to predict the disaster that was going to happen.

Because of his gossiping, Abigail took some swift action that eventually saved Nabal and all his household. If not for that gossiping young man, even Abigail herself may not have survived the wrath of David and his men.

Gossiping for gossiping sake is bad; in fact, it is abhorrent. We should not partake in it or encourage it. Some people are busybodies who simply love carrying information from one person to the other. But not so with holy gossipers.

May God send you these holy messengers when you need wisdom to take correct life-saving decisions. And may you not shrink back from sharing “confidential information” in a selective manner if it will save a life.