When the Lies Come Loud

There are days when the weight of slander feels heavier than I can carry. When words, twisted and weaponized, pierce deeper than any knife. When people I’ve never met assign motives to my heart, when rumors grow legs and run wild, and when I watch strangers tear down work that was meant to lift up the broken.

In those moments, forgiveness feels impossible. It feels unfair. Shouldn’t they answer for the chaos they’ve caused? Shouldn’t they feel the sting they’ve inflicted on me, on my family, on the mission I hold dear?

But then I think of Christ.

He was mocked, ridiculed, spat on, and slandered in ways that make my current struggles look small. Yet as He hung on the cross—bloodied, betrayed, and abandoned—He spoke words that should stop us all in our tracks:

“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)

He didn’t wait for an apology. He didn’t demand they make it right first. He forgave in the middle of the cruelty, while the nails were still in His hands.

In Matthew 5:44, Jesus goes further: “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Loving those who slander us doesn’t mean excusing their actions. It means releasing them to God’s justice rather than allowing bitterness to take root in our own hearts.

And in Ephesians 4:31–32, we’re reminded: “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”

Forgiveness is not about letting someone off the hook—it’s about refusing to let them chain you to anger and resentment. It is a deliberate choice to walk in the freedom Christ purchased for us.

Colossians 3:13 says it plainly: “Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”

I won’t lie: I still feel the sting when the rumors surface. But I am learning that to live like Christ means to forgive like Christ. Not because the person who hurt me deserves it, but because He commands it—and because He has forgiven me of far greater.

To those who have slandered me or misrepresented my heart, I choose to forgive. Not out of weakness, but out of strength that only He provides.

And to you reading this—if you are walking through your own storm of lies and betrayal—hold on to this truth: forgiveness is not a sign that you approve of the wrong done to you. It is a sign that you refuse to let that wrong define you.

Let us live out these words with courage, even when it costs us pride and comfort: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:21)

That is the way forward. That is the way of Christ.