[Manna - July 14]
Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger,...and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. Ephesians 4:31
FROM his high standpoint of appreciation of the
divine law, the advanced Christian sees that in the
Lord's sight hatred is murder, slander is assassination,
and the destruction of a neighbor's good name
is robbery and rapine.
And any of these things done
in the church, among the professed people of God, is
doubly evil—the assassination and robbery of a brother....The only exception to this rule, "Speak evil of no
man," would come in where we might know of an
absolute necessity for making known an evil—where
the relating of the evil would be contrary to our heart's wishes, and only mentioned because of necessity—because of love for others who, if not informed,
might be injured. Z.'99-71 R2444:6; R2445:1