Do not be conquered by evil but conquer evil with good.     Romans 12:21 HCSB

Our Scripture passage is the last verse in Romans chapter 12. I would like for you to read Romans 12:9-21. It literally takes about one minute. The title of this section is Christian ethics. Being ethical as it refers to Christian ethics is difficult because it means doing what you don’t want to do. Our flesh always opposes the Spirit. This is why it is so important to pray for God’s Holy Spirit to come and dwell inside of us. God’s Holy Spirit helps us to resist the desires of the flesh. It strengthens us against the devil’s schemes. It causes us to want to do things God’s way.

I hope you have taken a minute to read Romans 12:9-21. I am going to pick out a few of the more difficult things that we are called to do in these verses. I will start with verse 9, “Love must be without hypocrisy.” This is hard to do because let’s face it we all are hypocrites. We so often put down on others for doing exactly what we do or have done. We put down on the person that commits adultery, but we look upon someone with lust in our hearts. The Bible tells us they are one in the same. We put down on a murderer, but we have hatred. Matthew 5:22 tells us our hatred is as bad as their murder. Verse 9 also says to detest evil and cling to what is good. This means we never plot evil against someone no matter what they have done to us.

Verse 11 tells us to be fervent in the Spirit and serve the Lord. This means we are to diligently serve the Lord. We are to praise Him and serve Him in good times and bad.

I find verse 14 to be particularly difficult. We are told to bless those who persecute us; bless and do not curse. Let’s keep it real. When was the last time you blessed someone who persecuted you? If you can’t bless them any other way, pray for their salvation. You will be amazed at what God will do.

Verse 17 says we are not to repay evil for evil, but we are to try to do what is honorable in everyone’s eyes. When we repay evil for evil we are getting down on the other person’s level. This is just what the devil wants. Many people love to tell you that the Bible says an “Eye for an eye.” Well, what it actually says in Matthew 5:38, “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye.” Jesus goes on to explain that we are not to resist an evil person, but we are to give them more than they ask for. Paul explains this in Romans 12:10 when he says that we are to outdo one another in showing honor. What Jesus was saying in Matthew 5 is the Lord will avenge for us. As Christians it is our job to love others. We are also instructed to avoid every kind of evil in 1 Thessalonians 5:22. We are not instructed to trust an evil person, but we should love them and let God be the judge, the jury and the executioner.

We are actually instructed to do what we can to live at peace with everyone. If that’s not possible, love the person from a safe distance and pray for their salvation. Leave the rest up to God.

Verse 19 tells us we are not to avenge ourselves, but we are to leave room for His wrath. I have done this both ways. I have avenged myself and left no room for God’s wrath. It left me feeling angry and bitter and the person just went on about their life. But once I forgave them and turned it all over to God, His wrath rained down on them. I have also just simply left it all over to God. I have prayed for the person’s salvation, and I have prayed for God to help remove anger and bitterness from my heart. I saw God bring so much disaster on that person I found myself praying for them and actually having compassion for them.

We are instructed to conquer evil with good. This is the opposite of what we want to do, right? Being a Christian is hard, I won’t lie. But the good thing is God will give us the strength we need. It takes a lot more strength to do it the right way. Turn to God. He will take good care of you. He’s got this. He won’t let you down.

Have a great day!