KEEP ON SERVING SHOULDER TO SHOULDER - Guard Against Slander

Guard Against Slander

Since murmuring can lead to harmful gossip, we must be careful about what we say.  Gossip is idle talk about people and their affairs.  Slander, though, is a false report intended to damage another person's reputation.  Such talk is malicious and ungodly.  God therefore told the Israelites:  "You  must not go around among your people for the sake of slandering." -Leviticus 19:16.

Since idle talk may lead to slander, Paul spoke out against certain gossipers.  After mentioning widows who qualified for congregation assistance, he referred to widows who learned "to be unoccupied, gadding about to the houses, yes, not only unoccupied, but also gossipers and meddlers in other people's affairs, talking of things they ought not."  (1 Timothy 5:11-15) If a Christian woman finds that she has a weakness for the kind of talk that could lead to slander, she will do well to heed Paul's counsel to be "serious, not slanderous."  (1 Timothy 3:11) Of course, Christian men must also guard against harmful gossip. -Proverbs 10:19.

Next time:  KEEP  ON SERVING SHOULDER TO SHOULDER -Stop Judging!

The Watchtower, 2002