One day a friend told the philosopher Plato that someone had spoken evil of him. “What are you going to do about it?” his friend inquired anxiously.
“I shall live in such a way that no one will believe the report,” Plato answered, undisturbed.
That’s the advice of scripture. We are to live so that when people speak evil of us, no one will believe them (1 Peter 2:15).
When Lincoln was the target of vitriolic abuse he said, “If I were to read, much less answer, all the attacks made on me, this shop might as well close. I do the very best I know how and the very best I can; and I mean to keep on doing so till the end. Some people fear to do, because they fear being talked about. There always have been, are, and always will be (until we reach angelic perfection) people who can see only evil designs in the acts of good men.”
All men, great and small, have faced gossip and slander. Those who have fallen as a result are those who quit because of it. They merely failed to see gossip in its true light. Talebearers delight in besmirching others. Fearful of doing evil themselves, yet desirous of the supposed thrill that comes from evil, their imagination leads them to deductions that are not only erroneous but bad.
The one who realizes this knows that gossip, evil reports, and slander cannot defeat good. Keep doing your best. Live in such a way that no one will believe any evil report.