The Madness of Unforgiveness: Avoiding Slander

by David Chadwick

Forgiveness can only truly happen when Jesus is your source. Without his strength, bitterness will inevitably take root in your heart, defiling your soul.

Have you ever thought about what springs up from a bitter heart? Slander!

When given the chance to speak ill of someone who has hurt you, we seldom turn down the chance, do we? We all struggle with this temptation. Somehow, we think we are punishing them for what they did to us and at the end of the day, we don’t want our enemy to be admired.

Do you know why I think it is so easy to keep slandering someone? Because they hurt you! Hurt people hurt people. It can also be hard to speak well of someone who brought so much pain and devastation into our lives.

If you’re not careful, the pain of your situation can create a stronghold over your life that drives you into deeper sin instead of holiness.

Once you truly forgive someone, you won’t gossip about them. You won’t have the desire to slander them or put them down to someone else.

Now, let me say this. It is okay to find a Christ-centered pastor, counselor or trusted friend to help you work through your pain. Sometimes you have to share your heart with another in order to get free. This is acceptable. But slander is not.

Make sure that as you share something with another person that your end goal is forgiveness and becoming more free. Not aimless chatter simply intended to do harm to another.

Ephesians 4:32 reminds us how to be kind and forgive just as God in Christ forgave us. After receiving Jesus, remember that God will never punish you for your sins. His grace covers you rather than exposes you. And he will never hold our sins against us again.

When I fill my heart with Jesus’s love for me - his cross, his mercy, his kindness - I can release my offender and continue to have an abundant life. That is God’s desire. For you and for me to be free.