Overcoming Evil with Good

Read It: Romans 12:14–21 (NRSV)

14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. 18 If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 No, “if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. 

Learn It:

Paul gives us a kind of laundry list of things that we should do and the way we should live.  It's not just a list of things we shouldn't do but ways that we can live with one another...both Christian and non.  If you look at this list it really is a wonderful list of how to interact with people in appropriate ways.  Be happy with others who are happy about something.  Don't think too highly of yourself or say you are much smarter than you really are. Then Paul goes on to say one of my favorite quotes which comes from the Old Testament about vengeance belongs to God.  We don't have to worry about being vengeful even if that might be our first reaction.  If someone hits you you might want to hit them back or get payback for something they do to you.  God tells us that those kinds of things are for God and it it up to God to decide if God will take action or not.  The last line really says it all...Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. That is truly what it's all about.  

Share It:

Take the Bible passage from above and walk through it with your family verse by verse.  Talk about what each of you thinks the verse means and what are ways that you see that in your everyday life.  Then talk about how you can apply these Christian ideas to the way you interact with others.  Think of other things you might add to this list that Paul has created to live in harmony with each person that you meet.

Live It:

This weeks live it is simple.  Try to apply these ideas you talked about above and the ones in Paul's list to the Romans (our passage up top) to each person that you meet this week.  We all know that there is bound to be someone in our week ahead that we might find difficult to interact with or be pleasant with...use these words from Paul as a way to work through that difficult encounter so that both you and the person you are interacting with leave with a sense of Christian love.

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Please post comments with your experience with the share it or live it part of this weeks post.  Let others know if you and your family found this useful.