February 17, 2023

Ruth 2: 11 Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband – how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before.” (NIV)

Even truthful words can damage.*

You get a strange feeling when you find out people have been talking about you. Alarming yet flattering. Chances are good that they weren’t saying good things about you – but you mattered enough to take up some of their time.  I have always wished not to care what they said as long as it was the truth, but the truth isn't always spoken kindly.

Lucky Ruth. She has caught the eye of the local most eligible bachelor who, it turns out, has been asking around about her. People may have gossiped about the foreigner in their midst, but her reputation stood up to their scrutiny. Boaz’s sources seem to have reported the bare facts without editorial embellishment. How unusual!

A spotless reputation is no guarantee that you will be treated fairly when gossipers gather to plot character assassinations. It is possible for someone bent on mischief to use the truth against you. Did his accusers not sneer at Jesus for claiming to be a king? Was there not a kernel of truth in the accusations made against Paul in the province of Asia (Acts 21: 27-29)? Jesus said that we are in good company when others say bad things about us because of him – that’s how the prophets were treated (Matthew 5: 12). “Blessed are you,” he says, when the talk gets ugly. Take Peter’s advice: “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.” (I Peter 2: 12)

Silence to man and prayer to God are the best cures for the evil of slander.*