PRAYER + PRAISE
Overcome Evil with Good
- Adam R. Cole // February 5, 2009
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. —Romans 12:21
In so many ways, we are called to a higher life. We are called to serve God, to worship Him, and secondly to love thy neighbor as thyself.
Too often, we can equate this love for neighbor as an act of service…in that as long as we work with the poor, we meet our requirements of the commandment.
But Paul makes directs us more in this call…in that we must go so far as to love our enemies. By this token, we must love those that we come into contact with—no matter what. The people that cut us off on the road, the waitress that messed up our order, even the Wall Street mavens who are getting big bonuses while the rest of the world suffers.
In this way of espousing a good nature in all circumstances, especially, we are called to be salt and light.
But it starts with the heart. For even when we do not say some things, we can feel are heart kind of scrunch up and become bitter. Do not let yourself do that – instead let the Holy Spirit fill you when you sense your attitude getting weak.
It also says in Romans 12 a point we should all takeaway and live by: 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.
Praise: That God calls us into love for the world.
Prayer: That we have a full heart of love.
Prayer for Today: Dear Lord – We thank You for this day, as everyday. We thank You for love and what it means to our lives – and how we are called into love. Let us love the world, in every facet, in every opportunity, so that You may be glorified. Let us run this world with a peaceable heart and a peaceable mind, never giving in to the frustrations and the evils that capture our world. For, indeed, through our own good, we can overcome evil. In Your Holy and Precious Name, Lord Jesus, Amen.