“LORD, who shall abide in your tabernacle?
Who shall dwell in your holy hill? . . .
‘He that does not backbite with his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbor,
nor takes up a reproach against his neighbor.’ ”
Psalm 15:1, 3
Requirement #3: Do not backbite.
When someone in authority speaks to us, God requires us to acknowledge that person’s God-given authority by not talking back at him in a sarcastic or rebellious manner. Those who are saved in the end will be those who have respected in this life the “higher powers” that God ordained.
Requirement #4: Love others.
“Love does no harm to its neighbor”, wrote Paul; “therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law.”
Requirement #5: Do not repeat gossip.
When a “reproach”, that is, a slanderous comment, is spoken against someone in our hearing, we must not “take it up” and carry it around to others.
