- Romans 12:21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
In Paul’s day the church faced extreme persecution both from the inside (judaizers, false teachers) and the outside (culture, Roman government). Yet Paul, inspired by God, told those first century Christians to not be overcome by the evil around them but to overcome that evil by doing good. 1 Peter 1:25 reminds us that the word of the Lord endures forever, therefore the words of Romans 12:21 apply to us. The reality is that we now live in a culture where persecution against Christians is unlike anything we have experienced in this country in our lifetimes. Rather it be legal persecution for not bowing down to political correctness or verbal persecution from those that do not agree with us and would seek to tear us down, or even the most extreme persecution like we witnessed recently in Fort Worth with the West Freeway church shooting, we must persevere and keep doing the next right thing. We cannot overcome evil through retaliation nor can we allow the evil around us to prevent us from doing what we know is right. We must simply do what Scripture tells us to and that is overcome evil with good.
This Sunday we will take a closer look at what the Bible teaches us about dealing with persecution. Praying everyone has a blessed week.
In Christ,
Gary T.