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Anyone who hears false slander about himself will not only suffer no harm, but will also receive the greatest reward. It is not the one who suffers, but the one who does evil, who deserves punishment; so certainly not the one who hears about himself, but who utters slander, will be punished, unless the one who hears has given a fair reason for his condemnation. Let us therefore try not to hear anything bad about ourselves - since this is impossible, and, moreover, there is a saying of Christ: “Woe to you when all people speak well of you!” (Luke 6:26), - but so that we ourselves do not give reasons for this. He who wants everyone to speak well of him often destroys his soul by nourishing the love of human glory, rendering services to people in what he should not do, pleasing him in what he should not do, in order to buy himself their favor. On the other hand, the one who despises the general bad rumors about himself destroys himself. Just as it is impossible for a virtuous person for everyone to speak well of him, so it is impossible for everyone not to speak ill of him who in many respects gives many reasons for bad rumors about himself. If, despite your impeccable behavior, those who slander you appear, then the greater the reward awaits you, as was the case with the apostles and other valiant men. However, it should be noted that even if we were reproached in a matter for which our conscience does not reproach us, we should not despise the reproacher and the harm he causes, but with due caution take all measures to destroy unfounded rumors (2). Let us study, beloved, this wonderful science - not only not to slander, but not even to listen to slander. A terrible evil is slander, a restless demon that never leaves a person in the world. What evil, in fact, does not slander produce? From it enmity is born, through it quarrels arise, from it disagreements arise; the evil suspicions aroused by her are the cause of countless evils; hatred has its source. And no matter what disasters anyone imagines, they will all turn out to stem from slander, which drags everyone into malice. Slander excites a person to kill his neighbor. Slander hardens the soul and destroys brotherly fellowship, turning a recent friend into an enemy without any reason. She touched Miriam, the sister of Moses, and immediately covered her with leprosy and brought upon her wrath from the Lord. It destroys entire houses and incites peaceful cities to war. She breaks the bonds of the beautiful world and dissolves the great union of love. It, deviating from the commandments of God, teaches crime and, distracting from communication with God, removes us from the truth. She initially caused the death of the primordial Adam and deprived him of heavenly life and heavenly bliss, because she entered the mouth of the serpent and raised a lie against the true goodness of God; It was she who said: “Did God truly say: Do not eat from any tree in paradise?” (Gen. 3:1) - and prompted Adam to transgress the commandment and fall away from the truth; Having won over the Lord’s former interlocutor, she immediately, with the help of deception, made him an enemy and immediately removed him from benefits. So, let us refrain from slander, moving away from it, so as not to enter into enmity with the Lord. Let us give up slander so as not to become unjust judges of truth and not to turn out to be false witnesses in the face of the law. “Do not curse one another, brothers: whoever curses a brother or judges his brother speaks evil of the law and judges the law; and if you judge the law, then you are not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one Lawgiver and Judge, able to save and destroy” (James 4:11, 12). Do you see, beloved, how serious the sin of slander is? Let us leave her alone so as not to bring judgment upon ourselves. And we will drive away those who would like to slander from ourselves, so that, by taking part in the evil of others, we do not cause destruction to ourselves; Let us not find pleasure in listening to slanderers, so as not to subject ourselves to the devil’s suggestions. After all, slander itself is called diabolical, having received its most characteristic name from the name of the culprit; This means that one who engages in slander serves the devil, engaging in his devilish work. He who does not allow such a person to come near him also saves himself from this vain sin and keeps the sinner from unjust accusations against his neighbor, and finally saves the slandered one from accusation; Thus, disdaining the services of a slanderer, he becomes the organizer of the world and the teacher of friendship. Let us also learn, abhorring this matter, he says: “Whoever secretly slandered his neighbor, I drove him out” (Ps. 101:5). And in order to make sure, beloved, that slander does not in the least contribute to the truth, pay attention to its very name, considering the subsequent word in connection with it. Slander is the teacher of accusation, and the word secretly indicates the lie and shamefulness of this matter. When it comes to the truth, we must confront it head on and unite the world with courage; if secretly, it means that you are bringing a false accusation, arousing evil suspicion against your neighbor and not being able to expose him to what you are bringing against him. Therefore, it is a good thing to drive away the slanderer as a liar and a thief, so that, somehow confusing the peace of your soul, you do not make it hostile to your neighbor because of slander (3). You might be interested in: