P27 is now "Faith Journey"

Acts 6:15, 1 Peter 2:1

Mankind has a deep appetite for verbal smut. The Bible calls it calls it “slander”.  You may very well be guilty when you ask, “what’s the latest on _______________?”

Slander is a fabricated statement about someone that lowers your respect of them.  I don’t think there’s a more damaging sin against the body of Christ when slander is permitted to exist against a brother or sister. There is no end to the pain that it can cause.

This morning I read another great story from the Book of Acts (Acts 6:8-15) where this deadly tool was pulled from Satan’s drawer.  The disciple Stephen was full of grace and power and was preaching the news of the resurrected Jesus.  Those that didn’t believe in the resurrection tried to debate with Stephen but soon found that he had great wisdom and couldn’t win with the facts.  Their only resort was to bring him down through slander.

Think on that for a moment.  What hours of truth seeking could not accomplish, a single slanderous statement given to a verbal-smut-craved person brought him down in moments.

What’s my point? I want to encourage you to reject verbal smut. Peter says “get rid of … slander” (1 Peter 2:1).  By putting it to death means that you don’t buy it on the grocery stand, listen to it on TV or give your time to hearing it about someone you know.   It is Spiritual Cyanide among believers.

What the body needs: Is a spirit of grace and truth.  Be lovers of what is true – starting with God’s Word. Nurture your appetite for the truth of God’s Word.  In John 14:6, Jesus replied, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

A couple good questions to ask someone before listening to their story: Is this what you know or what you heard?  What is your motive for telling me?