Tuesday, November 30, 2004

On Being Falsely Accused

Several years ago I was falsely accused and when my accuser was asked to name the crime, he wouldn't be specific. Naturally I was surprised, shocked, stunned, saddened and sickened by the incident. For the next few weeks I went over the details of that conversation in my mind time and time again.

Shorty after that accusation was made I picked up an excellent book by Lloyd Ogilvie, Chaplain to the U. S. Senate, entitled "Facing the Future Without Fear". Ogilvie lists a dozen prescriptions for overcoming fear.

Prescription # 7 was meant just for me. "You are secure in God's love. Do not surrender your self-worth to the opinions and judgments of others. When you are rejected, do not retaliate; when you are hurt, allow God to heal you. And knowing the pain or rejection, seek to love those who suffer from its anguish". The writer goes on to say, "Unjust criticism or hostile rejection nearly always says more about the one doing the rejecting than about those who are rejected. In the light of God, we can see the real power at work behind people's hostile words and actions. The King of our lives knows! If we are to blame, it cannot be hidden from Him. And when we are unjustly criticized or condemned, He understands. If the hurt has been caused by distorted attitudes in those who have rejected us, Christ gives us the strength to forgive them."

Perhaps you, too, have been attacked, criticized or falsely accused recently. Your immediate reaction may have been to get even with the accuser. Why not let God deal with it. Rest in the knowledge that God knows your heart. He will vindicate you.

For we know Him who said, "It is mine to avenge; I will repay." (Hebrews 10:30) He will give His peace in the midst of the storm. "For He Himself is our peace." (Ephesians 2:14)

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