3 JUICY GUIDES FOR THE GOSSIPS

Posted by Mike Foster: We live in a TMZ culture. We love our gossip. We love our juicy scandals.

I often sneak a look at my wife's copy of "People" magazine and too many times I've fallen into the trap of talking about a Kardashian or a RHOBH scandal.

No one is immune to the temptation.

So I always try to ask myself these 3 questions before opening my mouth about someone's personal business.

1. IS IT TRUE? I realize that's a basic question but a pretty important one. Usually we are in possession of faulty facts. Or we think if we have 50 percent of the information we are justified to be an expert on the topic. Asking the question "Is it true?" is a good place to start. And most of the time gossip is just a lie with make-up on.

2. IS IT NECESSARY? Ok, so let's assume you know some stuff. Maybe you hold all the details on a particular person and you do know the truth. The next question we should ask ourselves is it really necessary for me to share that with my friends. Most of the time it's not and typically it is self-serving. If you don't need to say it...don't!

3. IS IT LOVING? I want everything that comes out of my mouth to be helpful to the situation. Unfortunately, I don't do it all the time but I really try. So the words that I say and the tone of my voice and who I choose to share it with better be rooted in love. It should be anchored with the desire to help the individual, not add to their pain.

So do you have any tips to help us all avoid the trap of talking about people behind their back?

Hear more from Mike Foster on this subject.