Romans 12:17-18, New Living Translation

“Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.”

For thousands of years, the Devil has been deceiving people to keep theme blind to the truth. I would like to share what the Lord has placed on my heart, with a prayer that anyone who is reading this, God would speak and reveal truth to you to strengthen you as a member and part of the body of Christ. We all know that the ten commandments and prayer have been taken out of our schools, and since then, there has been a rise in school shootings and innocent children being killed. With this in mind, there are people who are responding with hatred that call themselves Christians. I am not saying they are not Christians. However, I want to expose how the enemy is working through this. You see, the Bible clearly tells us not to return evil with evil. This can be found in Romans 12:17-18 (NLT) and says this, “Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.” This is concerning to me because not only are we given this instruction, but I am reminded of the ten commandments and the one that specifically says, do not murder. Jesus Himself said in Matthew 5:21-22 (NLT), "You have heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment.’ But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell.^”

Paul writes to us in 2 Corinthians 2:10-11 (NLT) saying, "When you forgive this man, I forgive him, too. And when I forgive whatever needs to be forgiven, I do so with Christ’s authority for your benefit, so that Satan will not outsmart us. For we are familiar with his evil schemes.” Since the beginning of time, Satan has been working hard to convince us that God's promises are not worth standing upon. John 10:10 (NLT) as we have so often heard, but it is so true, says, " The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.”

When something bad happens in our life, it is not beneficial to respond with anger and hate. The Bible tells us we are committing murder in our heart, and we are in danger of judgement. If we truly trust in the Lord with all our heart, then we must also believe Him when He says, "I will take revenge; I will pay them back. In due time their feet will slip. Their day of disaster will arrive, and their destiny will overtake them." (Deuteronomy 32:35, NLT) Paul expounds on this in Romans when he says, "Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, ‘I will take revenge; I will pay them back,’ says the Lord. Instead, ‘If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads.’ Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.” (Romans 12:19-21, NLT)

There are a lot of broken and hurting people in this world. Society blames the church for not standing up, the church blames society for their wicked secular schemes. Setting this aside, because in reality it doesn't help to point fingers and give blame, we need to actively pursue a better way. This way is through God, our Savior, Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us that God so loved the world that He gave His only son. That means every person in this world, Christ died for them because He loved them. Oftentimes we feel unqualified or unable to do anything to help someone because we may not know enough. I want us to take a pause and give thought ... Where is this voice coming from? What does scripture say? We are reminded in 2 Corinthians 3:4-6 (NLT), "We are confident of all this because of our great trust in God through Christ. It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God. He has enabled us to be ministers of his new covenant. This is a covenant not of written laws, but of the Spirit. The old written covenant ends in death; but under the new covenant, the Spirit gives life." It is Christ in us that is doing the work of the gospel. He will be faithful to show off if we are faithful to show up. What we say or do does not have to be some big thing. The smallest act of love and kindness shows another individual Christ. We just have to be faithful and keep our trust in God.  

We can no longer stand by in complacency. As Christians we are called to "… ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Matthew 22:37-39, NLT) Love is not always an easy thing to do. It will cause discomfort at times because it is necessary to do it in truth. For too long things have been looked over because nobody wanted to cause conflict. In reality, it is the enemy at work coming against Christianity and everything Christ stands for. When we love someone, really someone, as difficult as it may be, if we really believe the word of God is true, then we must share the truth with them. This knowledge is the key to life and death...to salvation, where they will spend eternity. Our God is not a God of confusion. He is a God of order and truth.

When we all take part in who God calls us to be and obey His commands, we then come together as the true church of Christ. In this, God moves, and mighty things happen! Strongholds break and freedom comes for the captive!

The Bible also tells us, "For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light! For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true.” (Ephesians 5:8-9, NLT) I think it is important to stay humble and remember that we too once walked in darkness. It was God's mercy and love that reached out to us and brought us to Himself. Christ set the example for us. We must choose to follow Christ and His example. Joshua said it well when he said, "...But as for me and my family, we will serve the LORD." (Joshua 24:15, NLT)