“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
(Romans 12:21 NIV)
What a great verse for 2020. It popped up on my (and every YouVersion subscriber’s) Bible app today and I paused to lean it a little.
Never in my adult life have an entire year so marked by the Fall. Sure, I’ve personally had a bad year or more, but this year is at an international scope. I think we can all agree that evil has had a heyday in 2020. We can outcry against it, we can argue and curse or lose our faith in God and each other OR we can overcome it.
I choose the latter. The godliest response to evil is to overcome it. Apostle Paul reminds us how: we don’t outlast it, outshout it or even outsmart it. We simply meet evil with more good. We walk in love and the Spirit with equal commitment. We live according to God’s Word and we remain Christlike no matter how bitter the world around us becomes.
This is hard for us. I think we are used to taking on evil as an organization: the church comes together to pray or give or act as a body. But in this season, we aren’t collective troops in the trenches as much as individuals in hand to hand combat for the territory that matters the most: our souls.
Stay strong, my friend and fellow believer. Reinforce yourself in prayer and the Word each day. Put on every piece of God’s armor and remain standing. Fight your heart out for your corner of the Kingdom and overcome evil with good. I suspect we are in the fight of our life, let’s give it everything we’ve got.
“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:9 NIV)
Lord, renew our strength. Give us resolve and courage to overcome evil with good. Fill us with Your Spirit and steady us with Your presence. We want to finish well. Amen.