Romans 12:21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

There are far too many evil things happening in this world for us to ignore the fact there is evil present; but that does not mean we have to give in to it and follow its ways!

Christ first commanded us to not get caught up in evil but to try and spread good instead; the apostle echoes those words reminding us not to be overcome by it but to put it in its place with good acts.

If we try to ward back evil with good; God will continue to back us up in our endeavours to do so. He wants good to shine through so people can have hope and see there is a better way than evil!

Acts 7:60 Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.

I’m not saying we should all allow ourselves to be stoned to death – far from it – Christ has called us to be effective witnesses to Him.

But when we are berated, shouted at, called names, or whatever, we should stand firm in God’s Word, stand firm in showing others the love of Christ in the face of all that is going wrong in our lives!

Be different. Be the change. Be more like Stephen!

Matthew 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

What does this world teach you about your enemies? To hate them, curse them, ignore them, do bad things to them… The opposite of what Christ teaches us!

Christ wants us to be different to the world otherwise the world will see no difference between Christians and the rest of the hateful world!

Don’t teach people to hate others but rather teach them to reach out to others and show them Christ’s love toward them!