Overcome Evil with Good

Today is the third day since we saw an intense display of violent evil in Las Vegas. This is another grotesque, infuriating, and heart-wrenching act in human history which is riddled with war and hate. It has left all of us feeling a combination of fiery rage and lurking insecurity, mingled with intense empathy and ignited compassion.

No matter how sophisticated or technologically advanced we become, evil lives on among us. What sin produces is both sickening and sad. It is no wonder Jesus had to go through such a brutal crucifixion in His payment for our sins. Sin is deadly and God is deadly serious about sin. Make no mistake, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. The Bible makes it very clear that the minute after that man shot himself is the same minute he found himself standing before the Almighty God, who judges both the living and the dead. God alone knows how to handle evil.

My prayer is that the horror of this event will not leave the good people in our world disheartened and discouraged. I pray that those of us who know the goodness of God revealed in Jesus Christ, and who are empowered by the Spirit of God, will ratchet up our resolve to not be overcome with evil, but to overcome evil with good. The fruits of the Spirit of God, who dwells in us, are love, joy, peace, kindness, meekness, patience and self-control. We need to be champions of these things, promoting these things, pursuing and seeking these things in every facet of our lives. 

And we must always remember that, though it often seems we can only do a little, a lot of people doing a little equals a lot. 

David