Do Not Repay Evil For Evil

We have always been reminded that our example, is Jesus. When we want perfect love, we look at Jesus. When we want joy and peace, we look at Jesus. And the same is true of goodness. Jesus overcomes evil with good when He died on the cross. He overcame the evil of our sin and rebellion with the good of His death and resurrection. 

So what does Paul mean here? In the context, coming right after saying be good to your enemy, he is saying, “Don’t let your enemy’s hostility produce hostility in you. But let your love triumph over his hostility.” Don’t be overcome by evil means. Don’t be overcome by his evil. Don’t let another person’s evil make you more evil. 

When we allow our adversary to make us evil, then he becomes the victor. This is because only greater evil can overcome lesser evil. Paul is addressing here the whole victim mentality of our day—people who feel or do evil things and then blame it on someone else’s evil. They let themselves be overcome by someone else’s evil so that they now do evil also.

Jesus has set us free - totally, completely and permanently. He is our King and we are a citizen in His Kingdom. When someone does evil to you, you say, “You are not my king. I will not be controlled by you. I will not have my attitudes and thoughts and actions dictated by your evil. Jesus is my King and He dictates my attitudes and thoughts and actions.” When Kingdom people encounter evil, they don’t respond to evil, they respond to Christ who deals with the evil. Jesus is the dominant reality in our lives, not other people’s evil.

Prayer: Dear Father, You have set me free and I am now completely in Your Kingdom so whenever I am faced with evil, I will not be overcome by it for I know that You overcame it by the death of Your Son. Help me to focus on Jesus and respond by praying against evil, speaking truth over it, and laying it down into Your hands. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen!