Classed with Murder and Stealing

In a small village in which there was only one church that almost every member of the community attended, one woman made life difficult, often, by her constant prying into the affairs of her neighbors. One day when the rector of the church was trying to show the woman the harm she was doing, she said: “Oh well, just prying into my neighbors’ affairs isn’t as bad as what Mrs. So and So does. She gets drunk.” “Madam,” replied the rector, “Your sin is classed with murder, and with stealing, in God’s Word.”