Just fix your eyes on Jesus....cause when all the different denominations get to heaven, we will all find out that all our denominational differences didn't matter anyway....cause we all still believe in the same Jesus

Nope. That would be a Snickers ice cream bar.
Did you guys get a lot of damage from the storm on your end of town?

Slander
Series: The Power of Words

Leslie Basham: The enemy of our souls loves it when we engage in slander. Here's Nancy Leigh DeMoss.

Nancy Leigh DeMoss: The word that is often translated "slander" in the New Testament is also the word from which we get the English words "devilish" or "diabolic."

Leslie Basham: It's Tuesday, August 19; and you're listening to Revive Our Hearts with Nancy Leigh DeMoss. Satan is sometimes called the accuser. When we accuse others we're acting just like him. Let's find out more as Nancy tells us about some evil twins, gossip and slander.

Nancy Leigh DeMoss: I saw an episode of I Love Lucy not too long ago that gave a demonstration of something that the Proverbs talks about much and that is the whole area of gossip.
We've been talking about the tongue and how our tongues have power to wound or to heal. We've been looking at the verse in Proverbs 18:21 and I've encouraged you to memorize at least the first part of this verse.

Post it in different places where you'll see it throughout the day. That phrase that says, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue."

And we've been looking at many different aspects in the Book of Proverbs, there's a lot all throughout the Scripture about the tongue; but we've been focusing specifically on what Proverbs has to say about the tongue.

We come today to this whole subject of gossip which is prominently referenced in the Book of Proverbs. And I think about an I Love Lucy episode where Lucy was on the phone with a friend and they were talking about Betty.

When Lucy got off the phone, Ricky said to her, "Lucy, gossiping is wrong."

Lucy said, "Who, me, gossiping?"

Ricky said, "What do you call what you were doing on the phone?"

And Lucy said, "Well it wasn't gossiping. I prefer to think of it as a mutual exchange of vital information. Anyway, she was gossiping. I was just listening and that isn't gossip."

Well, the Scripture has a lot to say about this thing called gossip. And it is one of the characteristics that we see in the Book of Proverbs that is not harmless.

It can, in fact, be deadly. Gossiping words can wound, can destroy. We're going to see that the mouth of the foolish is a mouth that speaks words of gossip.

Now slander is something that's closely related to gossip. There is a bit of a difference between them.

Joe Stowell has a wonderful book called The Weight of Your Words. And he suggests that slander is the open, intentional sharing of damaging information.

"Gossip, on the other hand, is often done," Dr. Stowell says, "in the context of idle or careless chatter." Both of these are very damaging and dangerous.

Gossip, we can fall into when we're just not thinking. It may not be intentional, just in the context of a group of women. We get together and start talking about things we've heard or seen or experienced or heard from others. And in that context of careless chatter, we can end up sinning with our lips.

Now the word "slander" means "to blemish" or "to fault" or "to speak against." It's interesting that in the New Testament (the original language, as you know, in which the New Testament was written was the Greek language) the word that is often translated "slander" in the New Testament is also the word from which we get the English words "devilish" or "diabolic."

You say, "What's the connection between slander and devilish or diabolic?" There's a real close connection because who is the original slanderer? Satan is. He's the accuser of the brethren.
And so in the King James, the word "diabolic" or diabolos is translated slander. If you have an NIV it's translated "malicious talkers." It means the same thing, to say words about another person that are malicious.
We learn in 1 Timothy 3 [:11] one of the qualifications for the wife of a deacon (one of the spiritual leaders or spiritual servants in the church) is that she is not to engage in slanderous, literally diabolic, or malicious speech.

Do you know that if you're a slanderer that you disqualify your husband from having a place of spiritual leadership in the church? As a wife you can so sin with your lips that your husband is not free to serve God in ways that he may be otherwise qualified to do.

When we slander we are really using the weapons and the instruments and the methods of the devil himself.
Proverbs 10:18 says: "Whoever spreads slander is a fool." And as I read that verse I have to ask myself the question, "Have I been foolish?"

And I know the answer is yes, at many points. In things that I have said about another person that either are not true or may be true but are malicious and are designed to pull down and pull down that person's reputation.

Destructive words. Proverbs 16:27 tells us: "An ungodly man digs up evil, and it is on his lips like a burning fire." He digs up evil. He's receptive to evil things that he hears about other people.

And those things are on his lips like a burning fire. He's got to get rid of them. He's got to share them with others. That ungodly man, it's a word that means "scoundrel." This is an ugly way to use our tongues. And his words are incendiary. They burn like fire. They blaze out of control.

As I meditated on these verses, I thought back to a few occasions when I had been a victim of someone saying things that weren't true, a victim of slander.

And I remember back to one particular instance; it was probably about 20 years ago. But if I think about that situation, I can relive it as though it were yesterday.

It hurt so deeply at the time. The memory of it is still painful. Someone just carelessly (I don't think there was an intent to be malicious in this case) came to conclusions that were not true and shared them with others.

It hurt my reputation, it hurt my pride and God used that instance in a way that was sanctifying in my life. I can look back on it and thank the Lord for what He taught me through it.
But now I'm instructed as I think back on that occasion and a few others and I have to trust my own reputation to God. But what have I done to the reputation of others.

I was in a meeting not too long ago where we were talking about various ministries and Christian workers. Somebody's name came up, somebody that I actually respect very highly, a great servant of the Lord.

But there are some aspects of that person's view of the Scripture where I have a different understanding of the Scripture. For some reason I felt compelled in that setting, and it was not necessary, but I just felt compelled to say what I knew.

And I realized as I got out of that meeting that I had put that other servant of the Lord in a bad light. I had not helped their reputation.

And it wasn't a situation where, by speaking what I knew, it was going to enhance the cause of Christ or that it needed to be said. I was just saying something that I knew, that didn't need to be said.

I got out of that meeting and I was so convicted that I had slandered that person's reputation that I got on my cell phone, before I left town. I was on my way out of town and I got a hold of the first person I could who had been in that meeting.
I said, "I was so wrong. I should not have given that negative report of that other servant of the Lord. Their works can speak for themselves but I didn't need to point this out. Would you please forgive me?"

And I couldn't get hold of the others at the moment but I felt I needed to address it so when I got home, I wrote a letter to the others who had been in that meeting and again sought forgiveness for having slandered the reputation of that servant of the Lord.

If you will deal with these issues as they surface you'll find that it puts a restraint on your tongue because I don't want to have to write those kinds of letters very often.
I don't want to have to make those kinds of calls very often. I've had to make them more often than I'd like to admit. If you'll deal in humility with those things as God convicts you, then you'll find God uses that to bring your tongue under control.

And so we need to be asking as we speak, "Is this a good report? Is it kind, is it true, is it necessary?"(Philippians 4:8).

You know, we're going to move on in the next session to the twin or cousin of slander which is gossip. But before we do I'd like to just part on that verse we started with from Proverbs 10: 18 for a moment. "Whoever spreads slander is a fool."
Now you know what Proverbs has to say about fools: There's very little hope for a fool.

Now there are different kinds of fools. There are those who have gone so far in their foolishness that there is no hope for them.

But there are others who are willing to turn from their foolish ways and to be instructed. And when they do, they are no longer foolish but they become wise.

Perhaps as we were talking about slander, you realized, I've been a fool. I've spread things; I've given evil reports, negative reports.

Some of you have been a fool in spreading slander about perhaps your own husband. And it's within the context of our closest relationships that we often fall into these kinds of sins of the tongue.

Can I just say as a wife it is so important that you give good reports of your husband. That isn't to say that your husband is glorified or sanctified or perfected.

I'm sure he's not. And some of your husbands may have some very serious spiritual issues. But it is so important that when you speak of him to others that you speak with reverence.

God will honor that--that you honor your husband with your words, that you honor your parents, that you honor your pastor.
Your pastor has shortcomings and faults and failures as do your parents, but it's so important, when we speak words about these people, particularly those that God has put in positions of authority over us, that we speak words that reverence them and honor them and in no way slander or damage their reputations.

Leslie Basham: Why is it that we're most prone to speak evil of those who deserve our greatest respect?

Nancy Leigh DeMoss has been giving us a great definition of slander today. And I can't wait to hear what she has to say about gossip tomorrow.

Nancy addresses all these issues in a new booklet called The Power of Words, a four-week devotional study on speaking with wisdom and grace. It will help you understand what the Bible says about the words we speak.

It provides questions for reflection and evaluation of your own heart. To get more information, just give us a call at 1-800-569-5959 or get more information on-line at Revive Our Hearts.com.

Over the coming days if you notice God starting to change the way you control your tongue, would you write and tell us about it.

Nancy Leigh DeMoss: Father, Your Word is like a mirror. It shows us things that we can't see about our own hearts.
And as I've looked into the mirror of Your Word, I've been convicted that many times I have spoken foolishly by speaking slanderously, by giving negative reports, evil reports, and sometimes reports that aren't true--that have damaged the reputations of others.

Lord, we come to You this morning to seek Your forgiveness and to ask You to heal our foolish hearts, to repent of our foolishness and to ask You to give us wise hearts, to give us words and hearts that are pure and speak good reports and true reports and reports that are kind and words that are necessary.
Cleanse us, Lord. We need Your forgiveness and we need Your grace to speak words that minister grace to others, that minister health and wholeness and healing. I pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

Leslie Basham: