Blessed by Slander

It is unavoidable. Wherever you turn, you will meet people who just speak against you. This can be defeating for sure. Nobody wants to be slandered by others, but as Christians it just cannot be avoided. If they slandered Jesus Christ, they will slander us.

At that time, Jesus stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured.  And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came forth from him and healed them all.  And he lifted up his eyes on His disciples, and said: “Blessed are you poor, for yours is the Kingdom of God.  Blessed are you that hunger now, for you shall be satisfied.  Blessed are you that weep now, for you shall laugh.  Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, on account of the Son of man!  Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven.”

Luke 6.17-23

While many surrounded Jesus and praised Him as God, many others slandered and ridiculed Him. They lied about Him. They even paid others to lie for them, about Him. This was all to maintain the power and control they had come to enjoy in life. It always comes down to power and control.

Here is the tricky part as a Christian. Sometimes what people say about us is true. Sometimes we deserve what others say about us. It hurts not because it isn’t true. It hurts because we know it is true, and our conscience is telling us to change. So, how do you tell the difference?

It doesn’t matter if it is true or not. Either way, it is a blessing if you accept it as a blessing. If you are being slandered because of your faith “on account of the Son of man,” then “Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven.” If what others say about is true and you need to change, then be blessed by changing your way.

In a nutshell….just get over yourself, accept that others will speak about you, and follow Christ. Or, as Jesus said, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me.” (Mark 8.34)