Addressing the Sin of Slander-James 4:11-12

Have you ever experienced the havoc that a slanderous tongue can cause? It is graphically illustrated in the following story: They were a happy little family, living in a small town in North Dakota, even though the young mother had not been entirely well since the birth of her second child. But each evening the neighbors were aware of a warmth in their hearts when they would see the husband and father being met at the gate by his wife and two small children. There was laughter in the evening too, and when the weather was nice Father and children would romp together on the back lawn while Mother looked on with happy smiles. Then one day a village gossip started a story, saying that the father was being unfaithful to his wife, a story entirely without foundation. But it eventually came to the ears of the young wife, and it was more than she could bear. Reason left its throne, and that night when her husband came home there was no one to meet him at the gate, no laughter in the house, no fragrant aroma coming from the kitchen--only coldness and something that chilled his heart with fear. And down in the basement he found the three of them hanging from a beam. Sick and in despair, the young mother had taken the lives of her two children, and then her own. In the days that followed, the truth of what had happened came out--a gossip's tongue, an untrue story, a terrible tragedy. Surely Solomon was wise before his years, when under inspiration of the Spirit of God wrote, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue" (Prov 18:21). Spurgeon declared, "It is an ill bird that fouls its own nest, and it is an ill professor who uses his tongue to tell the faults and failures of his brethren." Join us Sunday as James prohibits brethren speaking against one another in "Addressing the Sin of Slander" (Jas 4:11-12).