Slander

Slander is a serious offense not only in human courts, but also to God. Slandering another human being, who was made in God's image no matter who they are, is essentially slandering God.

This is the definition of slander in a dictionary...

"Slander is the communication of a statement that makes a claim, expressly stated or implied to be factual, that may give an individual, business, product, group, government, or nation a negative image."

Slander is anything we say about another person that isn't true or may be partially true for the sole purpose of ruining their character. Slander is a form of lying. It can be a total fabrication, twisting or distorting facts (especially in exaggeration) or omitting facts that ultimately makes another person look bad.

Of the seven things God says He absolutely despises, two are about lying and all result from wickedness in the heart.

"There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to Him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers." Proverbs 6:16-19

Lying, in any form, God hates. It doesn't matter to Him the reason for it. There is no small lie or big lie to Him. He doesn't care if our lives were on the line. It doesn't matter if we think we had good intentions. Lying is total wickedness to God and those good intentions we claim to have, God calls it wicked. In fact He says every intention of a persons heart is only wicked all the time (Genesis 6:5). Abraham lied about Sarah his wife on two occasions and told two different rulers Sarah was his sister and not his wife because he was afraid he would be killed for her (Genesis 12:10-20, 20:1-18). His son Isaac did the exact same thing about his wife (Genesis 26:6-12) and they never got away with it. If we lie in any form even if we are sure we'll lose our lives for telling the truth, it is evil to God and it also shows the lack of faith in God when we resort to what He hates even out of fear.

Slander encompasses all of these. When you look through the list of Scriptures that has to do with slander, you'll see that a slanderer has much deeper issues going on in the heart that their mouth is projecting...

"For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart." Matthew 12:34

"But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders." Matthew 15:18-19

"The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart." Luke 6:45

God also views slander, like hatred, as a form of murder because it comes from a hateful heart, ( 1 John 3:15) and it's character assassination. We'll be judged as murderers if we slander. It doesn't matter if we've been wronged and are just venting...slander is murder. It's a deep hatred in the heart for another human being made in the image of God that causes someone to slander. All actions begin with a thought. No murder is ever committed without any previous thoughts about it or festering hatred. Long before the actual murder took place, the murder was already being committed in the heart. Actions and what is spoken is simply a physical manifestation of what's already going on inside a person.

I've been a victim of slander. It's never fun and rarely can one fight against it...

 "The words of a talebearer are like choice morsels; they go down to a man's inmost parts." Proverbs 18:8

Like anything sweet, people gladly swallow the slander and pass it along. People are always willing to believe the worst about another without any facts to back it up. They're always willing to accept and believe slander. Just hearing it plants a seed in a person's heart about another and it always affects how we think about someone and how we treat them. Even if we don't believe it at first, it's always there in the back of a person's mind and will pop up eventually. This is why it's so hard to fight against. This is the reason gossip is to be avoided (so as to not affect our hearts and how we think of another) and especially never repeated. We have no way of knowing if what we're hearing and then passing along is the truth or not.

We've all been victims at one time or another and we've done it ourselves. Before we talk to another person we should consider how God views slander in any form and be sure that what we're putting out there about another person is entirely true, can be backed and that our motives are righteous.

 Slander...

Comes from an evil heart Luke 6:45

Comes from hatred Psalm 109:3

Idleness leads to 1 Timothy 5:13

The wicked are addicted to Psalm 50:20

Hypocrites addicted to Proverbs 11:9

A characteristic of Satan Revelation 12:10

The wicked love slander Psalm 52:4

They who indulge in slander are fools Proverbs 10:18

Women warned against Titus 2:3

Ministers' wives should avoid 1 Timothy 3:11

Christ was exposed to Psalm 35:11, Matthew 26:60

Saints exposed to Psalm 38:12, 109:2, 1 Peter 4:4

Saints must keep their tongues from Psalm 34:13 1 Peter 3:10

Should lay aside Ephesiand 4:31

Should be warned against Titus 3:1,2

Should give no occasion for 1 Peter 2:12, 3:16

Should return good for 1 Corinthians 4:13

Should not be listened to 1 Samuel 24:9

Causes anger Proverbs 25:23

Causes the separating of friends Proverbs 16:28, 17:9

Causes deadly wounds Proverbs 18:8, 26:22

Cause strife Proverbs 26:20

Causes discord among brethren Proverbs 6:19

Is murder Psalm 31:13, Ezekiel 22:9

The tongue of a slander is a scourge Job 5:21

Is venomous Psalm 140:3, Ecclesiastes 10:11

Is destructive Proverbs 11:9

End result of slandering is mischievous madness Ecclesiastes 10:13

Men shall give account for Matthew 12:36

Punishment for Deuteronomy 19:16-21