What Should You Do When People Lie About You?
"O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame? How long will you love vain words and seek after lies? Selah"- Psalm 4:2
One of the hardest things most people ever go through is betrayal. When you are betrayed, the sting seems to never end. Every thought and every mention of the person who betrayed you brings back so much pain. And the result of that is that most of us shut down. We don't want to deal with that kind of hurt, so we don't. We push it deep down inside of us and we put up walls to keep it from happening again.
David knows how you feel. His own son betrayed him and tried to take the crown. His son Absalom sat at the gate and spoke negatively about David, telling people lies and dishonoring him. He even gathered up friends of David and turned them against him as well. Perhaps you can imagine the hurt that David felt as his friends and family not only betrayed him but sought to kill him.
Most of us have felt betrayed like David. We have had close friends and even relatives to turn their back on you and then start spreading lies about you. Many of us, our lives are marked by betrayals. It hurts. David is crying out, asking how long will this continue? How long will people listen to those that are lying about him? When the lies are coming, it seems like it will never end.
Sometimes you even start to believe the lies yourself. Lies are powerful and when repeated often, the truth becomes obscure. So what do we do when people are spreading lies about you? How are we as Christians to respond?
First, we shouldn't lose heart. Betrayal and lies have been around since the beginning. The serpent lied to Eve and Cain betrayed his brother. Jesus faced the ultimate betrayal when Judas turned him over to be killed with a kiss. These things are to be expected in this life. So don't lose heart, in fact, you Jesus tells us to rejoice.
“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you." - Matthew 5:11-12
Jesus says that we should be glad with this happens because our reward in heaven is great. The prophets were all persecuted in the same way. People lied about them and they will lie about you if you are following me. This may in fact be a sign that you are actually following Jesus. If no one is saying false things about you, that may be reason to question whether you are truly following him or not.
We should also realize that it's not our place to seek revenge or to justify ourselves. God is the one who does that. He is the ultimate judge. When they spread lies and falsehoods about you, they should be very concerned. Proverbs 6 tells us that God hates lying tongues, a false witness who tells lies and a brother who sows discord, among other things. Those that do these things should have a gut check when reading passages like that.
"A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who breathes out lies will perish." - Proverbs 19:9
God is gracious and can forgive every person that has betrayed you or lied about you. But he will also punish those that have not repented and put their trust in Him. Woe to those that do not respond to his offer of grace.
Prayer - Lord, I forgive those that have betrayed me and lied about me. Please bless them and their families. Bring them to repentance and knowledge of you. Help them to see their sin. Lord, I pray also that you would forgive me for those that I have betrayed and the lies that I have told. Do not hold these sins against me. Thank you for revealing yourself to me and I pray that your truth would reign in these dark times. Amen.
One of the hardest things most people ever go through is betrayal. When you are betrayed, the sting seems to never end. Every thought and every mention of the person who betrayed you brings back so much pain. And the result of that is that most of us shut down. We don't want to deal with that kind of hurt, so we don't. We push it deep down inside of us and we put up walls to keep it from happening again.
David knows how you feel. His own son betrayed him and tried to take the crown. His son Absalom sat at the gate and spoke negatively about David, telling people lies and dishonoring him. He even gathered up friends of David and turned them against him as well. Perhaps you can imagine the hurt that David felt as his friends and family not only betrayed him but sought to kill him.
Most of us have felt betrayed like David. We have had close friends and even relatives to turn their back on you and then start spreading lies about you. Many of us, our lives are marked by betrayals. It hurts. David is crying out, asking how long will this continue? How long will people listen to those that are lying about him? When the lies are coming, it seems like it will never end.
Sometimes you even start to believe the lies yourself. Lies are powerful and when repeated often, the truth becomes obscure. So what do we do when people are spreading lies about you? How are we as Christians to respond?
First, we shouldn't lose heart. Betrayal and lies have been around since the beginning. The serpent lied to Eve and Cain betrayed his brother. Jesus faced the ultimate betrayal when Judas turned him over to be killed with a kiss. These things are to be expected in this life. So don't lose heart, in fact, you Jesus tells us to rejoice.
“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you." - Matthew 5:11-12
Jesus says that we should be glad with this happens because our reward in heaven is great. The prophets were all persecuted in the same way. People lied about them and they will lie about you if you are following me. This may in fact be a sign that you are actually following Jesus. If no one is saying false things about you, that may be reason to question whether you are truly following him or not.
We should also realize that it's not our place to seek revenge or to justify ourselves. God is the one who does that. He is the ultimate judge. When they spread lies and falsehoods about you, they should be very concerned. Proverbs 6 tells us that God hates lying tongues, a false witness who tells lies and a brother who sows discord, among other things. Those that do these things should have a gut check when reading passages like that.
"A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who breathes out lies will perish." - Proverbs 19:9
God is gracious and can forgive every person that has betrayed you or lied about you. But he will also punish those that have not repented and put their trust in Him. Woe to those that do not respond to his offer of grace.
Prayer - Lord, I forgive those that have betrayed me and lied about me. Please bless them and their families. Bring them to repentance and knowledge of you. Help them to see their sin. Lord, I pray also that you would forgive me for those that I have betrayed and the lies that I have told. Do not hold these sins against me. Thank you for revealing yourself to me and I pray that your truth would reign in these dark times. Amen.
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