1 - Introduction - Living like a real Christian Cleansing Coal week 1 | Page 6

trouble and has resulted in much pain. For a Biblical example, I think of King Saul after
having been instructed by Samuel to completely wipe out the Amalekites (1 Samuel 15), but
after the victory had been won, Saul was approached by Samuel with the question,“Did he
kill them all?” Saul responded that he had killed them all, but Samuel asked him that if that
was true, then why was it that he could hear the lowing of cows and the bleating of sheep?
Saul employed the tactic of a half-truth and said to Samuel that he had kept the best of the
herds to sacrifice to God. Samuel knew that what Saul considered to be a white lie was in
fact a gross disobedience to what God had instructed and Saul’s true heart was shown as
Samuel exposed the lie.
Folks, let’s take seriously the lessons that we have spoken of today, and let us guard
carefully our tongues from flattery and false testimony.
Prayer Thought: As you pray today won’t you ask God to forgive you if there are any false
testimony issues in your own life and then resolve, with great courage, to carefully control
your tongue as it relates to these two aspects of forbidden speech.

Wednesday
Proverbs 10 v 18
Proverbs 18 v 8
Today let me conclude with the last two types of speech that God forbids.
SLANDER. Slander is the deliberate act of conveying false information intending to hurt
someone. Slander is a preconceived planned scheme of using words to defame somebody’s
reputation. It was slander that got Daniel thrown intothe lion’s den where evil men
construed together a plan to defame his credibility and to ultimately plan his demise.
It was slander that got Joseph thrown into prison, as Potiphar’s wife tried to defame his
character too.
It was slander that put Jesus in front of Pontius Pilate as the religious leaders construed
slanderous lies about Christ which ultimately led Pilate to say “crucify him”.
When we look at the world around us and we see the incredible culture of “dog-eat-dog”, we
see the insatiable desire to be the boss.We realise that slanderous activities are all around
us and the opportunities for slander and to trash somebody’s reputation in order for selfgain are always there. Slander is one thing that should never be named amongst the
followers of Christ. We as believers should be totally subjected to the will of God for our
lives that we trust Him, not just for our daily bread, but for our promotions at work and for
our progress in life as well.