What does the Bible say about slander?
Let’s talk about the sin of slander. Scripture teaches us that God hates slandering. Often times slandering happens because of anger towards someone or jealousy. Someone’s reputation is too good, so someone finds a way to destroy it by telling lies. The tongue is very powerful and when used wrongly it can do damage. The Bible teaches us to control our tongue and help our neighbors, not destroy them. Romans 15:2 “Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up.”
Christian quotes about slander
“Therefore, I bind these lies and slanderous accusations to my person as an ornament; it belongs to my Christian profession to be vilified, slandered, reproached and reviled, and since all this is nothing but that, as God and my conscience testify, I rejoice in being reproached for Christ’s sake.” John Bunyan
“The best way to deal with slander is to pray about it: God will either remove it, or remove the sting from it. Our own attempts at clearing ourselves are usually failures; we are like the boy who wished to remove the blot from his copy, and by his bungling made it ten times worse.” Charles Spurgeon
“The effects of slander are always long-lived. Once lies about you have been circulated, it is extremely difficult to clear your name. It’s a lot like trying to recover dandelion seeds after they have been thrown to the wind.” John MacArthur
“I would rather play with forked lightning, or take in my hand living wires with their fiery current, than speak a reckless word against any servant of Christ, or idly repeat the slanderous darts which thousands of Christians are hurling on others.” A.B. Simpson
“Be as much troubled by unjust praises, as by unjust slanders.” Philip Henry
How God feels about slander?
1. Matthew 12:36 “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak.”
2. Psalm 101:5 “Whoever slanders his neighbor secretly I will destroy. Whoever has a haughty look and an arrogant heart I will not endure.”
3. Proverbs 13:3 “Those who guard their lips preserve their lives, but those who speak rashly will come to ruin.”
4. Proverbs 18:7 “The mouths of fools are their undoing, and their lips are a snare to their very lives.”
Bad Friends slander their friends
5. Proverbs 20:19 “Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets; therefore do not associate with a simple babbler.”
6. Proverbs 26:24 “Enemies disguise themselves with their lips, but in their hearts they harbor deceit.”
7. Proverbs 10:18 “Whoever conceals hatred with lying lips and spreads slander is a fool.”
8. Proverbs 11:9 “With his mouth the godless man would destroy his neighbor, but by knowledge the righteous are delivered.”
Watch what comes out your mouth
9. Psalm 141:3 “Set a guard over my mouth, LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips.”
10. Psalm 34:13 “keep your tongue from evil and your lips from telling lies.”
11. 1 Peter 2:1 “So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.”
12. Ephesians 4:31 “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.”
13. Exodus 23:1 “You shall not spread a false report. You shall not join hands with a wicked man to be a malicious witness.”
How should Christians respond to slander?
14. 1 Peter 3:9 “Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.”
15. 1 Peter 3:16 “Having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.”
16. Romans 12:21 “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
17. John 13:34 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” (For God is love Bible verses)
Reminders
18. Ephesians 4:25 “Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body.”
19. 1 Peter 3:10 “For Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit.”
20. Proverbs 12:20 “Deceit is in the hearts of those who plot evil, but those who promote peace have joy.”
21. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”
Examples of slander in the Bible
22. Jeremiah 9:4 ”Beware of your friends; do not trust anyone in your clan. For every one of them is a deceiver, and every friend a slanderer.”
23. Psalm 109:3 They encircle me with words of hate, and attack me without cause.
24. Psalm 35:7 I did them no wrong, but they laid a trap for me. I did them no wrong, but they dug a pit to catch me.
25. 2 Samuel 19:27 (NIV) “And he has slandered your servant to my lord the king. My lord the king is like an angel of God; so do whatever you wish.”
26. Romans 3:8 (ESV) “And why not do evil that good may come?—as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just.” (Definition of good vs evil)
27. Ezekiel 22:9 “There are men in you who slander to shed blood, and people in you who eat on the mountains; they commit lewdness in your midst.”
28. Jeremiah 6:28 (KJV) “They are all grievous revolters, walking with slanders: they are brass and iron; they are all corrupters.”
29. Psalm 50:20 “You sit around and slander your brother— your own mother’s son.”
30. Psalm 31:13 “For I have heard the slander of many: fear was on every side: while they took counsel together against me, they devised to take away my life.”
