The dictionary says that backbiting means to slander an absent person or persons. The old sinful nature of man is easily lured into that trap.

When we criticize others we turn attention away from our own faults. At least we think so. However, Judge Harold Medina saw it another way. He said, “Criticizing others is a dangerous thing, not so much because you may make mistakes about them, but because you may be revealing the truth about yourself.”

Oliver Wendell Holmes said, “The human race is divided into two classes — those who go ahead and do something and those who sit still and inquire why it wasn’t done the other way.”

If you find that someone has been criticizing you, don’t ever let it defeat you. If the criticism is untrue, disregard it. If it is unfair, keep from irritation. If it is ignorant, smile. If it is justified, learn from it.

But how about those who eat away at others in your presence. What can you do about them? You will never escape them for the world is full of such little people. You must simply let them know that you disapprove of their backbiting. Refuse to listen to their tirades against others. Do not allow them to deposit their poisonous thoughts in your mind. Object to being a party to their sin.

The psalmist declares that those who are close to the Lord are not backbiters. Regardless of how righteous they may sound, backbiters need to get right with God!