Overcoming Evil With Good
"Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." (Romans 12:21)
Do you know that evil has a time limit? That's right! Satan knows that his time of opportunity is running out. His longstanding, life-taking, godless agenda to steal, kill, and destroy may be getting more visibly seen in the world as the spiritual battle is intensifying but the devil has already been defeated since Christ has overcome the world and is coming again soon.
As we get closer to the return of the Lord, we have more history to learn from, a greater expectation of God's glory to look forward to, and more opposition and spiritual warfare to deal with. The Scriptures written and the godly examples given to us teach us about how to live a life of faith for Gods kingdom first so that we might build on His firm foundation.
David once asked, "If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?" (Psalm 11:3)
The Apostle Paul give us clear teaching in Romans 12 concerning the way we ought to be living when evil is all around us. The behavior of a Christian and the way that we seek God's true peace and speak the truth to others in love ought to be a reflection of those who are not only forgiven but living by the Spirit of God. Once we trust in God's mercy in Christ, we can present our bodies as living sacrifices to God so that we can live as living witnesses for God.
Our daily surrender leads to God's divine sufficiency in our lives.
Since the world is under the sway of the evil one, we must be aware that our enemy is called "the father of lies" and he gains ground through deception. When you see a glass of water besides a pile of dirt, it is easy to know the difference. But when the dirt moves into the water, you need greater discernment and better footing to handle the muddy waters.
Beloved, we are living in slippery times where the messages are muddy and so we must learn to tune out the additional noise and abide in Christ by staying in constant communion with God in prayer and daily feeding on His Word.
As we consider the recent events of our time and the way that people are responding to the evil rising up, it is important to keep our eyes on Jesus and our ears open to His Word so that we can respond appropriately in the day of trouble and rightly represent and advance God's kingdom.
Are you feeling troubled by what appears to be the advancement of evil?
Are you trying to advance God's kingdom in your flesh by your own strength?
We must remember that being "poor in [our] spirit" is the precursor to being "born again of His Spirit. His strength is perfected in our weakness and His grace gives to us what we need and could never earn for ourselves.
We are the light of the world and the salt of the earth. We have the potential to have great influence in this world but we must be wise in how we seek to overcome evil with good. Jesus said, "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world" (John 16:33).
The Apostle Peter thought he was stronger than he really was. He promised that he would be loyal to the Lord to the end but he ended up denying Jesus three times. He was overcome with evil and missed his opportunity to testify to the Lord on the night of his betrayal.
After Jesus restored him and he returned to the Lord, he Apostle Peter would later write these words:
"Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.
For “He who would love life
And see good days, Let him refrain his tongue from evil,
And his lips from speaking deceit.
Let him turn away from evil and do good;
Let him seek peace and pursue it.
For the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous,
And His ears are open to their prayers;
But the face of the LORD is against those who do evil.” (1 Peter 3:8-12)
Now is the time to overcome evil with good! We all have various emotions that run through us at any given moment but we must learn to live by God's Word and NOT our human emotions. It is only as we anchor ourselves in His Word that we will know how to live, act, and respond to the evil of our day.
We must remember that we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and the only way that we can truly follow Christ on His paths of righteousness is to know our own inadequacy and to rest our faith in Jesus.
The Apostle John tells us that the key to overcoming this world is "our faith" in Christ and what He accomplished for us. Jesus overcame evil with God when He demonstrated His love on the cross and died for us declaring, "It is finished!" (1 John 5:4 and John 19:30).
Therefore, let us be discerning in this opportune time, wise in our speech, and "as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men" (Rom. 12:18) This is such an important part of representing Christ’s kingdom. Being at peace does not mean backing down from the battle but rather knowing how to battle in the spirit and speak the truth in love that we might win souls.
Proverbs 28:1-2 says, "The wicked flee when no one pursues, But the righteous are bold as a lion. Because of the transgression of a land, many are its princes; But by a man of understanding and knowledge RIGHT will be prolonged."
Let the LION of righteousness rise up within us but also let the gentleness of the Lamb be made known to all men...and we will overcome evil with good!
Do you know that evil has a time limit? That's right! Satan knows that his time of opportunity is running out. His longstanding, life-taking, godless agenda to steal, kill, and destroy may be getting more visibly seen in the world as the spiritual battle is intensifying but the devil has already been defeated since Christ has overcome the world and is coming again soon.
As we get closer to the return of the Lord, we have more history to learn from, a greater expectation of God's glory to look forward to, and more opposition and spiritual warfare to deal with. The Scriptures written and the godly examples given to us teach us about how to live a life of faith for Gods kingdom first so that we might build on His firm foundation.
David once asked, "If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?" (Psalm 11:3)
The Apostle Paul give us clear teaching in Romans 12 concerning the way we ought to be living when evil is all around us. The behavior of a Christian and the way that we seek God's true peace and speak the truth to others in love ought to be a reflection of those who are not only forgiven but living by the Spirit of God. Once we trust in God's mercy in Christ, we can present our bodies as living sacrifices to God so that we can live as living witnesses for God.
Our daily surrender leads to God's divine sufficiency in our lives.
Since the world is under the sway of the evil one, we must be aware that our enemy is called "the father of lies" and he gains ground through deception. When you see a glass of water besides a pile of dirt, it is easy to know the difference. But when the dirt moves into the water, you need greater discernment and better footing to handle the muddy waters.
Beloved, we are living in slippery times where the messages are muddy and so we must learn to tune out the additional noise and abide in Christ by staying in constant communion with God in prayer and daily feeding on His Word.
As we consider the recent events of our time and the way that people are responding to the evil rising up, it is important to keep our eyes on Jesus and our ears open to His Word so that we can respond appropriately in the day of trouble and rightly represent and advance God's kingdom.
Are you feeling troubled by what appears to be the advancement of evil?
Are you trying to advance God's kingdom in your flesh by your own strength?
We must remember that being "poor in [our] spirit" is the precursor to being "born again of His Spirit. His strength is perfected in our weakness and His grace gives to us what we need and could never earn for ourselves.
We are the light of the world and the salt of the earth. We have the potential to have great influence in this world but we must be wise in how we seek to overcome evil with good. Jesus said, "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world" (John 16:33).
The Apostle Peter thought he was stronger than he really was. He promised that he would be loyal to the Lord to the end but he ended up denying Jesus three times. He was overcome with evil and missed his opportunity to testify to the Lord on the night of his betrayal.
After Jesus restored him and he returned to the Lord, he Apostle Peter would later write these words:
"Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.
For “He who would love life
And see good days, Let him refrain his tongue from evil,
And his lips from speaking deceit.
Let him turn away from evil and do good;
Let him seek peace and pursue it.
For the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous,
And His ears are open to their prayers;
But the face of the LORD is against those who do evil.” (1 Peter 3:8-12)
Now is the time to overcome evil with good! We all have various emotions that run through us at any given moment but we must learn to live by God's Word and NOT our human emotions. It is only as we anchor ourselves in His Word that we will know how to live, act, and respond to the evil of our day.
We must remember that we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and the only way that we can truly follow Christ on His paths of righteousness is to know our own inadequacy and to rest our faith in Jesus.
The Apostle John tells us that the key to overcoming this world is "our faith" in Christ and what He accomplished for us. Jesus overcame evil with God when He demonstrated His love on the cross and died for us declaring, "It is finished!" (1 John 5:4 and John 19:30).
Therefore, let us be discerning in this opportune time, wise in our speech, and "as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men" (Rom. 12:18) This is such an important part of representing Christ’s kingdom. Being at peace does not mean backing down from the battle but rather knowing how to battle in the spirit and speak the truth in love that we might win souls.
Proverbs 28:1-2 says, "The wicked flee when no one pursues, But the righteous are bold as a lion. Because of the transgression of a land, many are its princes; But by a man of understanding and knowledge RIGHT will be prolonged."
Let the LION of righteousness rise up within us but also let the gentleness of the Lamb be made known to all men...and we will overcome evil with good!
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