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Overcoming Evil

Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. – Romans 12:19-21

How do you respond to an enemy? Not the Taliban or Al Queda or some other distant theoretical threat, your enemies, the people in your life who attack you…personally…or your family. There is no doubt that evil is in this world and sometimes it comes for us very directly. So, what’s one to do when confronted with evil? How in the world do you overcome it?

In Romans Paul draws from the ancient wisdom of Proverbs to answer this question. His instruction was neither new nor revolutionary. But it certainly wasn’t widely practiced then or now. “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.”

There’s a word for trying to overcome evil with evil. Escalation. Even a first year camp counselor will tell you that getting back at the boys for raiding your cabin only leads to retaliation that leads to retaliation until someone makes a different choice. God calls us to make choices that are different from the world. Hard choices. Yet there is sweet freedom in the choices God calls us to make. Harboring grudges, seeking revenge, looking to destroy enemies can become an all-consuming passion that ruins your life, your relationships, your health and your faith. Making the hard choice, the right choice, God’s choice brings restoration and shines the light of God’s love to a world bent on the escalating troubles of meeting evil with evil. Are you in the midst of an escalating situation? It might be time to make a different choice.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, your call to overcome evil with good is so very hard when all the world is telling me something different. Help me to hear your voice and give me the courage to consistently make choices that truly overcome evil instead of making things worse. In Jesus’ Precious Name, amen.