Don’t despise prophecies, but test all things. Hold on to what is good. Stay away from every kind of evil.  1 Thessalonians 5:20-22 HCSB

Have you ever thought that someone was a good person only to have them plot evil against you? Have you ever been caught up in a web that was spun by someone evil because you trusted them? Well, I’m right there with you.  I have fallen for my shares of lies. I am happy to say though, that I have learned that the closer I walk with God and the more I focus on Him, the more He gives me discernment and helps to lead me away from evil. In our scripture passage today, He tells us to avoid it altogether.

The bible tells us that we are to bless our enemies and not curse them (Romans 12:14). Romans chapter 12 goes on to tell us that we should not be proud and should associate with the humble. It tells us that we should do the best we can to live at peace with everyone and should not avenge ourselves, but leave room for God’s wrath.

When we get saved we are filled with God’s Holy Spirit and we want to do what is right and good. We want to be good little Christians and live by God’s Word and we should.  But sometimes we take that whole turn the other cheek thing to mean that we should be a doormat to evil people and this is just not true. Turning the other cheek refers to not retaliating or not repaying evil for evil.

Romans 2:9 tells us that every person who does evil will suffer tribulation and distress. Psalm 37 tells us that evildoers will fade like grass and wither like the green herb. John 3:20 tells us that everyone who does wicked things hates the light for fear that his works will be exposed.

I think it is very important that as Christians we have discernment and we avoid evil. The bible tells us that vengeance belongs to the Lord and we should allow Him to handle that, but we should stay away from evil when at all possible. Now some of you may be reading this and wonder how we can lead the lost to Christ if we avoid those who are evil. All who are unsaved are not evil, some are simply lost and looking for the light. And some times it is hard to tell if someone is evil until their actions show it. Often times evil does not immediately present itself as evil. The person may appear to be kind, and act as though they are your best friend. In Genesis 3:1 serpent tricked Eve because he was so crafty and he appeared to have her best interest at heart, but he talked her into destroying this wonderful life she was living in the garden of Eden. Could you imagine how much better Eve’s life would have been if she had avoided the serpent and how much better our lives would have been? We would be living in heaven on earth. And where was Adam, he was supposed to be the spiritual leader, right? But we won’t get into all that this morning. That’s a whole other blog.

We get saved, we want to be good little Christians and love everybody, right? We want to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us and we should because the bible clearly tells us to do this in Matthew 5:44. But nowhere in the bible does it tell us to stay in the presence of evil. Nowhere in the bible does it tell us to trust those who are evil. As a matter of fact, our scripture passage today clearly tells us to avoid evil.

When we seek the Lord with all our heart, all our soul, and all our mind as the bible tells us to do in Deuteronomy 4:29 and several other scriptures, we will find Him. When we abide by the greatest commandment found in Mark 12:30 and love the Lord with all our heart, all our soul, and all our mind, He gives us discernment. He clearly shows us the difference between good and evil.

When you see those that are evil, stay away from them as our scripture passage says. You can love them as God loves them, you can forgive them as the bible instructs us to do in Matthew 6. You can and should pray for them, but know that you should avoid them.

Just imagine if Eve had avoided the serpent. Just imagine if she had turned her back on him and not listened to his cunning crafty words. I imagine that you have dealt with evil people at some point in your life and regretted listening to their lies or falling for their stories. You can probably recount times when you wish you would have avoided an evil person or were tricked into going along with an evil person.

The point I am trying to get across to you today is that evil is all around us. Unfortunately as the days of Christ’ coming gets closer we will see more and more evil in the world. We are called to keep our focus on God. We are called to love others even our enemies. We are called to pray for the lost and witness to them. But we are also told to avoid evil.

When you have tried to share God’s love and God’s word with someone who continues to practice evil, move on. Pray that you have planted a seed and that God will send someone else to water it. But don’t get caught up in the evil that is in them. Romans 1:24 tells us that eventually those that refuse to turn to God will be given over to their evil desires. You don’t want to get caught up in that.

I’m sure that Eve lived the rest of her days regretting listening to the serpent, pray today for wisdom and discernment in dealing with the evil ones around you and remember to do your best to get along with others, but avoid evil.

Have a great day!