Apostle Paul wrote, “Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good” in his letter to the believers at Rome. They were living under severe persecution in a land of rampant debauchery. It would be easy to succumb to the evil around them. To just go along to get along.
We will all come into contact with evil. That’s a part of living in this world. Paul’s admonition is to not allow evil to prevail in us. There’s a difference between encountering someone and visiting with them. One is a passing moment, the other opens us up, mind, spirit, and soul to them.
We are not to entertain evil. Period. End of story. Not even for a few minutes.
(See 1 Thessalonians 5:22, Psalms 34:14, Deuteronomy 23:9 and more.)
Why is that? Because…
God knows how frail the human will actually is, how easily conquered we are.
Thankfully, He doesn’t just say to not let it conquer us, He gives us the answer for how to become the conqueror: DO GOOD.
There is nothing good in evil.
God alone is good.
When we join Him in doing good,
we are kicking evil in the teeth and
annihilating it in our lives.
Learn to recognize evil sneaking up on you for what it is and when you do, make the cognitive choice to do good. Reach out and help the poor, offer encouragement to someone, share scripture, praise God verbally, intentionally help someone. Evil will try to isolate you, to keep you from others. Don’t let it!
You have the choice to conquer or be conquered. Choose today and live that out every day.
Coffee, Bible, Journal.
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