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Romans 12:17-21 states “Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. Therefore, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good”.
The wisdom in this incredible scripture contains extremely important instruction for us to remember, go to, and live by whenever we may be in a situation where we are falsely accused of anything we have not done. If and when others accuse us of wrongdoing, whether face to face or behind our backs, we must not retaliate. We may feel like “getting even” in these circumstances, but don’t even go there! As always we must do the very thing we do not feel like doing because we cannot give in to our carnal human nature. So what do we do? We must be led by the Helper...God’s Spirit dwelling inside of us. We are to become more like Christ and less like ourselves, so we exemplify His character by being counterintuitive.
What better example to go to than that of our older brother. Jesus Christ repeatedly faced evil from false accusers such as the Pharisees and Sadducees when they recklessly charged Him with breaking the Sabbath, blasphemy, drunkenness, being friends with tax collectors and sinners, gluttony, even having demons, amongst many other evil accusations. Matthew 11:19; 12:24, Mark 3:22, Luke 7:34, and John 7:20; 8:48; and 10:20 are just a few scriptures we can read to see how Jesus was treated. There are many others to refer to if one decides to do an in-depth study on this very interesting subject.
Imagine that! Jesus was the only human being to have ever lived on earth who was completely sinless yet accused of charges that were designed to make Him look as if He was demonic and an ally of Satan! Nothing could be further from the truth. We know Christ was sinless and perfect, living righteously every minute of every hour of every day, during the 33 and a half years he was here on earth. Now if Jesus was treated so wickedly and did not take matters into His own hands, then we must also follow His example. He prayed to His Father and deferred to Him in all such circumstances. He said “Yet not my will [Father], but Your will be done” in Luke 22:42. Likewise, if we commit all wrongs into our Father’s will, we do well. This can be such a challenge because we instinctively want to correct wrongs or right the wrongs that are hurled at us, especially if they are false. This is where self control comes in and we need to practice it.
Satan the Master Accuser of the Brethren
There have been a couple of instances I can think of in which I instantly wanted to set the record straight for myself and especially for another who was falsely accused some years ago. The tongue (James 3:5-10; Proverbs 26:20) indeed can cut like a knife severing friendships and slashing our character until it is butchered to the point of harmful damage, even to the point of a complete massacre (Proverbs 12:18; 25:18). Our Father sees all, hears all, and knows all (Psalm 33:13; 139:4; Jeremiah 16:17; Job 34:21; Hebrews 4:13). There is deep comfort in that. Hold onto that knowledge because God will correct all these wrongs when the time is right. He may do this in such a way as to teach our enemies or those against us through a lesson in humbling them via a trial. We must be patient and trust that God will deal with those spreading lies and gossip. It is one thing to have others attacking us from the unconverted, but from within — now that is truly a monumental challenge. How will you cope if this happens to you? Many of us have no idea until the circumstance unfolds and we find ourselves in the most awful of situations where one’s reputation and character is shredded before our very eyes. This is when we know we hold the truth and the truth will indeed set us free.
Those who have spoken lies may not even realise they have done this. Like those who accused Jesus, like those who stoned Stephen (the first martyr), like those who killed God’s people down through the ages...they really did believe they were right — however, they were unable to know the intentions of the heart and based their opinions on what they saw or thought they saw, confusing this with reality — never mind it was completely erroneous. Christ cried out to His Father in Luke 23:34 and we need to do the same “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing”. They are under the influence of the devil, plain and simple — they have been deceived into doing evil without even realising it. Notice how the scripture in Revelation 12:10 does not place a word such as “rightly” or “falsely/wrongly” before the word “accuser”? God does not qualify any accusation here and that is done for a purpose. That means we must not accuse our brethren because to do so we are following the lead of the devil who loves to accuse us day and night as it is written. This will most certainly cause division.
What I would really like to tell those concerned and influenced by lies, and to each and every member of God’s household is this...whenever gossip comes your way NEVER EVER base your opinions on what others say to you but rather go to the person directly and ask with Agape love just what is the truth. Why oh why do humans take the shortcut and believe what they hear from the first person? Remember what God put in Proverbs 18:17? Some may find it confronting to go to their brother (Matthew 18:15) but we must listen to God and do as He says...not what we may want to do, because humans always want to take the easy way rather than the right way.
As a result, in the case above, several people believed the first person who presented a very convincing case replete with tears, thereby influencing and manipulating these people who felt sorry for the supposed “victim”. It would never have occurred to those concerned that the so called victim was indeed the perpetrator. Rather than say to someone “I think Joe Blow (made up name) used to work as a TV repairman but does not work anymore; I don’t think he even owns a car; I think he is not even interested in getting a job either; Joe is definitely not marriageable material; he probably could not even get a Visa for overseas travel because of his low circumstances” and on and on they say “I think” about many aspects of another’s life, but they actually don’t know!
Unbeknownst to the accusers Joe Blow owned 2 cars, was working, had credentials of high standing in a completely different trade and was able to get a Passport AND Visa. Everything that was said was in error except one detail of geographical location. Rather than go to Joe Blow and spend an hour talking, to extend Agape love and wise counsel, they believed lies and had Joe guilty of everything he was accused of. Therefore they have spread lies without even realising it and a person’s character has been maligned. The truth was actually very different as Joe had tried to help the initial accuser-“victim” many times financially and in other ways with time, transport, food, shelter, and wise counsel listening to their trials. He lost several long standing friends over this attempted character assassination and it just reminds me of the example of Job in the Bible.
Best to say nothing unless you are absolutely sure of all the facts. Lying is an abomination to God (Proverbs 12:22; 6:16-17). This is a very serious matter to our Father and therefore we need to slow down, even stop and pray first having a mind and heart ready to face these situations rather than believing the first person, or even believing your wife or spouse which is people pleasing. Men tend to please their wives in this way and women are certainly not exempt. Naturally we want to believe what our best friend is telling us but it may not be the truth. Think before you act. Better yet, go to God in prayer and seek His wisdom asking for direction if you find yourself in such a dilemma.
And so, all those who have been treated badly, accused falsely by those in authority like the Pharisees and Sadducees, take comfort in the fact that you are in exemplary company. Our Lord and Master went before us and we in turn endure these false accusations for now knowing that the time will come when God the Almighty will ask each and every one of us for an account of every word that came from our mouths. Leave it with God as it should be according to 2 Thessalonians 1:6 and Deuteronomy 32:35-36. Meanwhile we patiently endure always looking to God our Father and His Son while praying for those who do us harm. 2 Corinthians 4:17, 1 Peter 4:13, Romans 8:18, and Matthew 5:11-12 give us great peace and joy to know that we will be vindicated and not from our own hands. God will be perfectly just and merciful with all and that is exactly how it should be.