Mark 7:20-21a   And He was saying, “That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, Â
Romans 1:28  And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper,
Romans 1:29  being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips,
2 Timothy 2:14  Remind them of these things, and solemnly charge them in the presence of God not to wrangle about words, which is useless and leads to the ruin of the hearers.
NASB Translation
In my Kindle NASB Translation, there are 81 verses about gossip, most without using the word gossip, but meaning the same thing. After reading them there is no doubt about how God feels about gossip.
In most of my Christian walk, I, like most, did not think about gossip very often, like most, I thought it was just talk, not gossip. Now I know the Bible has a lot to say about gossip, and God doesn’t like it, it is sin. As I studied the Bible I discovered that gossip can slip into a conversation without any conscious thought, and that’s the problem, without thinking. Most of us that claim to be followers of Jesus don’t really want to hurt anyone, but without realizing it we could murder their reputation, hurt their feelings, and believe we think things about them that we really don’t. Conversation with others is a tricky thing, I need to remember to make my conversation plain to others, what I meant to say is understood. I know I don’t want to purposely ruin someone, but I don’t want to do it accidentally either. Remember the old parlor game where someone wrote a statement on a piece of paper, then whispered the statement into the first persons ear, which was then passed from one person after the other, until it reached the last person. Then the last person quoted the statement and we all laughed at how far off from the original it was. In a game it is funny, but in real life it can be a disaster. I may have thought gossip was just talk, but just talk can turn in to gossip, slander, and malice, even if I didn’t intend it to.
Lord, help me guard what comes out of my mouth.