Commandment number 9 of God’s 10 Commandments says, “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.” This simply means that we should not tell lies about anybody. If we do, then we are guilty of slandering them. It is worse for someone to be robbed of their good name than to lose money or possessions. To blacken someone’s character is like making a blot on white paper that can never be removed.

The Bible says that, “The Devil is the father of lies.” [ John 8:44 ] So if there’s a lie on the tongue it comes from the Devil. It’s been well said that God has put up three fences to stop lies coming out. The first fence is the teeth, the second is the lips and the third is the ninth commandment! To break down this final fence is extremely serious and as the Bible puts it, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” [ Hebrews 10:31 ]

Not only can we have the devil in our tongue, we can also have him in our ears. This means that if we hear lies being told about somebody and then pass this false information on to others, as if it were the truth, we are guilty of slander. We are also guilty if we keep silent instead of speaking up in defence of the innocent victim.

When a man named Shimei shouted abuse and lies at King David, one of his loyal officers asked for permission to kill him. David replied, “Let him alone, it may be the Lord will repay me good for his cursing.” [ 2 Samuel 16:5-14 ] Instead of becoming revengeful and bitter he humbly endured abuse and became better. It’s best to let God do the judging! [Read what happened to Shimei – See 2 Samuel 16:5-13 and 1 Kings 2:36-46 ] Watch this space!