"Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good."
Romans 12:21
I think sometimes we still want to live by the old "eye for an eye" (Leviticus 24:20, Exodus 21:24, Matthew 5:38, 3 Nephi 12:38) law, even though Christ taught us "a more excellent way" (1 Corinthians 31, Ether 12:11). In this chapter Paul explains that we should "recompense no man evil for evil" (verse 17), but instead we should let go of vengeance and help our enemies instead.
I think we resist this because we see backing down or being kind to people who are mean to us as losing, or being weak, and of ourselves coming out on the losing side of some struggle... somehow if we don't get our vengeance or our justice, then we've lost something. And I think that is what this verse is trying to refute.
The struggle here isn't about power or about who is right, and when we interpret it that way, we are losing the battle to evil, because we allow it to take us over as we give into evil actions against our fellow beings. The struggle is for our own souls... to be good despite all, and to triumph that way. Satan's lie is making us think that we are becoming doormats, or joining the losing side, when actually good changes the world and wins when we live, and show others a way to live, that is more excellent. :)
Perhaps the most dramatic example of this were the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi who knelt and prayed when an army of their former brethren, the Lamanites, came to kill them. And more than a thousand of them died, kneeling there. But well over that number of their attackers were converted to God that day, when they stopped what they were doing, and realized the atrocity that they were participating in (Alma 24:26).
Now obviously we have to resist evil sometimes in order to protect our families and our lives. God doesn't ask us all to lay down our lives like the Anti-Nephi-Lehies did, or promote abuse or addiction, which is why the scriptures tell us both to not resist evil (Matthew 5:39, 3 Nephi 12), and also encourage us to resist evil (Alma 61:14). I think that the point here though is that God wants us to think carefully and choose wisely, making sure love is the default option in our personal lives so that we never escalate to wars, which usually involve atrocities from both sides and very great risk of sliding into evil ourselves.
Today, let's really think about how we're trying to win in our lives and work to let go of the power struggles and the battles involving personal pride, and instead find a way to show love for those that we see as on the other side of the conflict. Let's not let evil win in our hearts, but instead quash it with good, and be the light of the world by showing others how to choose love and to be good even when it is "natural" to fight back.
Romans 12:21
I think sometimes we still want to live by the old "eye for an eye" (Leviticus 24:20, Exodus 21:24, Matthew 5:38, 3 Nephi 12:38) law, even though Christ taught us "a more excellent way" (1 Corinthians 31, Ether 12:11). In this chapter Paul explains that we should "recompense no man evil for evil" (verse 17), but instead we should let go of vengeance and help our enemies instead.
I think we resist this because we see backing down or being kind to people who are mean to us as losing, or being weak, and of ourselves coming out on the losing side of some struggle... somehow if we don't get our vengeance or our justice, then we've lost something. And I think that is what this verse is trying to refute.
The struggle here isn't about power or about who is right, and when we interpret it that way, we are losing the battle to evil, because we allow it to take us over as we give into evil actions against our fellow beings. The struggle is for our own souls... to be good despite all, and to triumph that way. Satan's lie is making us think that we are becoming doormats, or joining the losing side, when actually good changes the world and wins when we live, and show others a way to live, that is more excellent. :)
Perhaps the most dramatic example of this were the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi who knelt and prayed when an army of their former brethren, the Lamanites, came to kill them. And more than a thousand of them died, kneeling there. But well over that number of their attackers were converted to God that day, when they stopped what they were doing, and realized the atrocity that they were participating in (Alma 24:26).
Now obviously we have to resist evil sometimes in order to protect our families and our lives. God doesn't ask us all to lay down our lives like the Anti-Nephi-Lehies did, or promote abuse or addiction, which is why the scriptures tell us both to not resist evil (Matthew 5:39, 3 Nephi 12), and also encourage us to resist evil (Alma 61:14). I think that the point here though is that God wants us to think carefully and choose wisely, making sure love is the default option in our personal lives so that we never escalate to wars, which usually involve atrocities from both sides and very great risk of sliding into evil ourselves.
Today, let's really think about how we're trying to win in our lives and work to let go of the power struggles and the battles involving personal pride, and instead find a way to show love for those that we see as on the other side of the conflict. Let's not let evil win in our hearts, but instead quash it with good, and be the light of the world by showing others how to choose love and to be good even when it is "natural" to fight back.
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