“He that hideth hatred with lying lips, and he that uttereth a slander, is a fool.” Proverbs 10:18

Once again, the word of truth fully opposes our normal sense of reality. Our perception usually runs like this:

• “I can’t stand this person. He annoys me; he makes foolish decisions; he offends me. But he will never know it because I will never tell him.”
• “This person is a complete idiot. I’m going to tell my friends what an idiot this person is.”

In both cases, our perception is that the object of our disdain is a fool. Our perception, of course, is wrong. The fool is actually the person in the mirror. The slanderer and the hypocrite are the real fools. Why is this so?

• James says that this is the case because when we curse men who are made in the likeness of God, it is equitable to cursing God.
• Matthew says that this is so because our worship is hindered when we have unresolved hatred in our hearts.
• Matthew also says that hatred in the heart is no different than murder.
• Jesus reveals that most likely the obvious speck in your brother’s eye is much smaller than the beam in your own eye.
• Jesus constantly condemned hypocrisy.
• John says that it is impossible to love an unseen God and hate the brother you have seen.