Day 16

“Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy and slander of every kind.” — 1 Peter 2:1

Psalm 15 begins with two questions from David. “Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary?” and “Who may live on your holy hill?” David answers, “He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart and has no slander on his tongue... and casts no slur on his fellowman.” Slander is an evil thing. It is the uttering of malicious, false and injurious statements, and is usually passed on with a snowball effect. It reeks of the devil and has intent to do harm.

There is a story of a man in the middle ages who had confessed to a monk that he had sinned by spreading rumours about someone in the local community. The monk asked him to do penance by placing a feather on every doorstep in the community. The man complied and then came back to the monk to report the task done. The wise monk then said, “Your penance is not yet finished. Now go back to every doorstep and collect every feather you placed there.” The man responded, “But all the feathers will have blown away by now.” And the monk replied, “That’s exactly what happened with your careless and malicious words. You cannot collect them back.” 

When tempted to indulge in slander, we should be reminded of three things: honesty, honour and holiness. “Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy” (Leviticus 19:2). And in verse 11, God says, “Do not lie. Do not deceive one another.” Holiness and speech go hand in hand, as do honesty and honour. We cannot speak maliciously about other people and remain in a wholesome relationship with God. Slander is destructive and it quenches and grieves the Holy Spirit within us.

Jesus said, “Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34). In other words, our speech reveals our hearts and has the power to lift one up or tear one down. We all need to THINK before we speak. Is what we have to say:

True?

Helpful?

Instructive?

Necessary?

Kind?

If so, then speak with honour and honesty, and in this way, uphold the holiness of God.

Prayer: Dear Heavenly father, I love what David said, “he whose walk is blameless, who speaks the truth from his heart and casts no slur on his fellowman.” help me, lord, to always think before i speak, and to do so with honesty, honour and holiness.

To reflect upon: When did I last experience hearing malicious talk about someone? How did I respond, and would I respond any differently now? Do I realize that speaking maliciously about someone is grieving the Holy Spirit?