Mark 7:21-23 says For from within, out of the human heart, come evil ideas, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, evil, deceit, debauchery, envy, slander, pride, and folly. All these evils come from within and defile a person.
Wow! Slander is listed among these sins. It matters greatly to God.
Recently, the Holy Spirit revealed an ongoing situation in my own life of slandering a sister in Christ. At first, I quickly asked for forgiveness, but He told me I wasn’t truly sorry. I was taken aback, so I asked God to reveal the root of this sin. He did; it went back years into my childhood. Together, we pulled that evil out by the root and flung it far away. Then I repented of my sin.
What remained? What to do about the slander? I had sinned in front of others. Of course, I needed to go back to them and ask for forgiveness.
But what about the one I had slandered; did I need to go to her? I wrestled with this. The answer I received was not to open a wound in a sister who was unaware of the situation. I took this answer as confirmation that my slanderous heart had not been revealed to this sister, and I thanked God for this.
The point is that God views slander in the same way He does bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and all types of evil behavior (Ephesians 4:31). This is huge, friends. These are the things that hinder our prayers and even God’s forgiveness of our sins (Mark 11:25).
Titus 3:2 says, “Do not slander anyone, but be peaceable, gentle, showing complete courtesy to all people.”