Winning!

Winning!

Do not let yourself be overcome by evil, but overcome (master) evil with good. Romans 12:21 AMPC

Human relationships are complex. As you read about history and learn how man has evolved, one thing is clear: no amount of head knowledge can help understand the complex nature of human relationships. There is no science or study that makes human interaction more bearable. How then am I expected to live day by day if I am to align with today's extract? What must flow out of me if I am to live up to the standard that God has set? 

First, let it be noted that God didn't create man to go it alone. At the time of creation, he made them male and female, only as gender specification but also as purpose and spiritual implications. He gave each specific genes which could be passed down from one generation to another, but He also gave specific characteristics which could not be passed down, to make it clear that human life was both specific and generational. How then can I live as if I am only for today and not spare a thought for my generational impact? How do I live as if there is no accounting to be done, or that I am my own master, lord and king, answerable to no one else but myself? 

God gave man dominion over all He created but did not give any man dominion over other men. God's instructions to man involve love to other people. However, the devil came in and introduced sin into the lives of the first family: the unhealthy competition of superiority or wanting to be better than all other people. Till today, we suffer from the same deceit, thinking we are in competition with one another for available resources, forgetting that the potential of God's earth cannot be fully mined or exhausted by man. 

What today's extract seems to present is a picture of warfare and victory, stating that I must be willing to contend for the things that are stated here. It won't happen by accident and it won't happen without conscious cooperation on my own part. When I have encountered evil from another person, what stops me from giving as good as I get is the understanding of who I am, who I follow and where I am headed. If I know that I serve, follow and inhabited by a good God, what flows out of me has to reflect who lives inside of me. How does a mango tree produce oranges without any grafting? The fruit will always look like the seed. 

And it is not about inaction or indecision, where I can get away with the defence that 'I didn't do anything'. With God, he expects my response to always flow in line with my faith. When I see evil and keep quiet, am I not encouraging more evil? When I see evil and I am able to respond with good, am I not telling the observing world that evil isn't the best and only option? Evil never gets defeated by greater evil, because evil only knows how to give birth to more evil. But when I tackle evil with good, I make it clear that I answer to different standards and that the good God lives in and works through me. 

And good always overcomes, even when the immediate does not always align in that direction. Stephen being stoned must have looked bad at the time but imagine the benefits that flowed out of that into Saul's life. No matter how bad things look, remember: as long as I keep responding with good, God always comes through. So, as I check my life in the light of God's Word, what is being stored up right now? In my private moments, what am I focused on? When a demand is made on my deposits, what will flow out? May the Lord help me to be his visible and audible representative on earth, so men can find God in and through me. His time of favour is here.