Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:21
Bringing about good in our world, as well as our immediate situation, is a reversal of chaos. It is restoring things the way God would have them. How we respond to evil has the power to restore some order – the peace and righteousness of God.
So what does good look like in the face of evil? Let’s start with what its not. It’s not passive – rather good is an overcoming force. Some have wrongly thought they just need to be nicer to those who victimize them. Or have allowed evil to run amok around them not wanting to confront it. But it is possible that responding to evil with good means turning someone in so that they won’t hurt someone else. We love our neighbor by protecting them. And we are possibly protecting the perpetrator as well, providing an opportunity for repentance and help, but at least restraining their further evil. Wishing that person harm as a way of vengeance, however, is returning evil for evil.
My grandmother recalled the story of having her crayons stolen at school. The offender was a young boy who could not afford his own. Instead of shaming the child and despite limited resources, my great grandmother bought two new boxes, one for her daughter and one for the young boy. She provided a way for good to overcome evil and a path for reconciliation.
When grown, this same grandmother found out her kids were being bullied by an older boy on the bus to school. She accompanied them one day and told the boy these children were much younger and needed someone to look after them. Would he please help her and protect them on the way to school? They were never bullied again and good overcame evil. She gave him an opportunity for good.
We see accounts of police officers buying groceries for a hungry shoplifter. Or the forgiveness Corrie ten Boom gave her captor many years later with the simple act of shaking his hand. We find good in the ordinary as well as the extraordinary – and it crushes evil.
It’s great when things work out neatly like these stories. But we know that’s not always the case. Sometimes the evil person stays evil. Sometimes the evil circumstances keep knocking on our door. We are not responsible for the result. God is. We just need to be obedient to reflect Him.
Goodness means not allowing evil to continue, but it does not allow for revenge of any kind. The world says if we have been hurt, it is okay to hurt back. But such thinking does not destroy the evil – it perpetuates it. Evil must be overcome – but more evil is not the answer. Let us learn to do good, restore order from chaos and trust God’s restraining hand on evil until He ultimately wipes it away.
