Love--the Only Weapon Against Evil

Romans 12:19-21—Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

It can be challenging to pour out love on our enemies because inside of ourselves we are feeling tons of negative emotions like anger, fear, or hate.  As Christians, we have a responsibility to learn not to be defined by the emotions that we are feeling.  We can acknowledge those emotions, and then make the choice not to label ourselves as that emotion.  We can choose to act in love, even when we feel hate.  We can choose to act compassionately, even when we feel afraid.  We can do all these things because we are filled with Christ’s love and He promises to care for us.  We have no reason to fear, be angry, or hate because God is always with us and He conquers all.  By choosing to love, we benefit our own spirits by overcoming the negative emotions and making space for peace in our hearts.  There is an external benefit, too, though.  Jesus has told us that in loving others and treating them with kindness we “heap burning coals on” the heads of our enemies.  What does this mean?  Put another way, it means that evil cannot survive in the face of love—love destroys evil.  Love is the only thing that can overcome evil, you see.  Hate feeds evil.  Anger makes evil thrive.  All negative emotions are like fertilizer for evil.  So if we let our negative emotions take over, we are making it worse on ourselves and on the world by growing evil.  But if we turn up our love, evil cannot survive, and we make the world a better place for all.  Love is the only extinguisher of evil.

Today as you pray and meditate on His Word, consider any negative emotions you have been feeling lately.  Write down those emotions and the causes of those emotions.  Pray over the list and ask God to take up those matters on your behalf and heal your heart.  Write down ways you can show love toward those situations despite your negative feelings.  Pray for strength from the Holy Spirit to infuse this world with love to overcome evil.