Hatred and Slander
There are some terrible things that we are tempted to do, aren't there? I could make a long list, but we don't have time here. I will just focus in on hatred and slander. Hatred is the very opposite of what God would have us to do. We must never succumb to the temptation from the flesh to hate another person. God wants us to love others. Also, in much the same way we are tempted to slander others by saying things that are not true to harm them. God wants us to tell the truth and edify others.
The writer of Proverbs takes these two sins even farther to show us how destructive they can be to us. (Proverbs 10:18) "Hiding hatred makes you a liar; slandering others makes you a fool." I don't think most of us want to be known as liars and fools. However, I have observed many people who are trying to hide their hatred for others, and I have seen many people engage in slander. In both cases they are bringing negative consequences on themselves.
Hatred is terrible enough, but hiding hatred is much worse. When we hide our hatred, we then have to act like we don't hate the other person. We have to say things we don't really mean, and we have to put a pleasant look on our face, when we are upset inside. All of these things are very hypocritical. We are one way on the outside and our heart is totally different. We are being deceptive, and that makes us a liar. We need to confess our hatred, repent of it, and start loving the other person. That is God's way to overcome this sin.
Slander is horrible because it is designed to destroy another person's reputation by spreading the false information or saying things that tear them down just to hurt them. When we do this, we become a fool because we are bringing judgment on ourselves. Jesus told us that we will be judged by how we judge others. If we try to tear someone down for doing something we don't like, the reality is that we have done similar things ourselves, so God judges us for those things even more because of our slandering. We need to decide to build others up instead of slandering them. That is the wise thing to do.
#NHBaptistdotorg
Tomorrow, I intend to read Proverbs 11-13.