file: /pub/resources/text/Our.Daily.Bread: db941010.txt
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OUR DAILY BREAD                 Monday, October 10,1994
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READ: Proverbs 6:12-19

                     "SUBTLE SLANDER"

          Whoever hides hatred has lying lips,
          and whoever spreads slander is a fool.

                    - Proverbs 10:18

God hates slanderers. They are scoundrels and villains with
hidden hatred in their hearts and deceit in their mouths.

Some people have turned slander into a fine art. They would
never use a meat cleaver to cut down another person. They
are shrewder "hit men" than that. They have learned to
slander with a gesture, a wink, or an evil smile.

Jonathan Swift, who knew well the ugliness of slander,
described a man who could "convey a libel in a frown and
wink a reputation down." And Robert Louis Stevenson noted,
"The cruelest lies are often told in silence." When someone
is attacked in a conversation, the listeners can join the
mugging with a nod.

The writers of the Proverbs described people in the ancient
world who used their body language to destroy others. They
winked, motioned, or gave a shrug to work their slander, and
they felt safe in their attacks. After all, it is difficult
to refute a gesture or to prove evil in a wink.  Their ac-
tions were subtle, but as deadly as bullets piercing the
heart.

Do you need to ask the God of love and truth to help you
guard your speech and gestures today? Then for His sake,
for your own sake, and for the sake of others, do it!

Author:  Haddon W. Robinson

 Today let only thoughts that bless
 Dwell in my heart and mind;
 Silence my lips and tongue to all
 That wounds or is unkind.

                       - White

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
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Be careful with your tongue -
   it's in a wet place and can easily slip.

The Bible in One Year: Nehemiah 1-3

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Our Daily Bread, Copyright 1994, used by permission of Radio
Bible Class, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49555, USA. Written per-
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