Romans 12:19 Dear friends, never avenge yourselves. Leave that to God, for he has said that he will repay those who deserve it. Don’t take the law into your own hands.
Romans 12:20 Instead, feed your enemy if he is hungry. If he is thirsty give him something to drink and you will be “heaping coals of fire on his head.” In other words, he will feel ashamed of himself for what he has done to you.
Romans 12:21: Don’t let evil get the upper hand, but conquer evil by doing good.
Sin is crouching at your door but do not let evil rule over you but overcome evil with good. We can see how easily people get offended and “hang up” on you or stop talking to you and being around you. We see how easy it is today as we have let the pendulum swing so far in the other direction by totally denying truth and letting deception rule. We have even been accused of being unaccepting if we don’t align with evil. This is even rooted in churches across America. We have accepted, adopted and embraced all the practices of sin that we don’t even look like a church anymore.
Please know that I am talking about the sin and not the sinner. We love all sinners, no matter what they have done. We know that it is not up to us to judge or avenge. Our commandment is to love our neighbors.
We can see a great example of how to overcome evil with good with King David, the shepherd boy. We can see how David doesn’t let evil “get the upper hand”. He was not even considered and then the prophet, Samuel, asked, “Do you have another brother?” Did David hold a grudge against his family? Did he rub it in their faces that he wasn’t even invited to dinner? Does he start letting the anointing go to his head? No. Instead, he goes back to tending sheep. David learned how to be a king by caring for the sheep. He knew that sheep were helpless. So much so that when they roll over onto their back, they can’t get themselves back up. They would die on their backs if someone doesn’t help them get right-side up. He knows they need to have their head anointed with oil to keep the fly larvae off their head, eyes, ears and nose. He knows they don’t have sense of direction and need to be led to green pastures. They are defenseless against predators. They are known to wander off. We are like sheep and in need of our Savior and Good Shepherd. We make mistakes (even stupid ones) and need to have God’s grace an unmerited favor for all our mistakes. Therefore, we need to give grace to others as well.
David knew how to look evil in the face, be courageous, have no fear
because God had delivered the enemy to him over and over again. He knew intimately, the job of saving, tending to and caring for innocent sheep. What are you training for today? What are your experiences that are preparing you for your anointing?? Have you fought battles that has prepared you to help others? Have you walked through the valley of the shadow of death and feared no evil? Have you walked with God, read your bible, pray and talk with Him to get to know Him more intimately so you can help others know Him as well? Overcome evil with good. I pray you learn love covers a multitude of sins and that God’s grace is sufficient for you. If Jesus could go to the cross, innocent and beaten beyond recognition of a man, then let’s all pick up our crosses and follow him. Overcome evil with love. When love is put into action–it creates good, joy, peace, longsuffering, hope, grace and mercy. Today, love the unlovable. It will benefit you greatly!
Love, Dr. Deb Walsh.
