Daily Devotional Details

Date

Overcome evil with good. Romans 12:21

Think of the evils perpetrated against Jesus—the injustice He endured, the violence He suffered, and how He was abandoned by His friends. Think about the abuse—people mocked Him, spit on Him, and beat Him over the head again and again.

None of us has endured evil as Jesus did, but He was not overcome by evil! He overcame evil with good. What was the good with which He overcame evil?

The good of faith
Jesus trusted the Father, even when He could not see what the Father was doing. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me” (Mat. 27:46)? Yet He said, “Into your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46).

The good of hope
“For the joy that was set before him he [Jesus] endured the cross, despising the shame” (Hebrews 12:2).

The good of love
On the cross, Jesus prayed for the enemies who persecuted Him. “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). And in that prayer, He created room for them to repent.

A good response to the Scriptures today would be to come to God and say, “I don’t want to be overcome by evil! I don’t want to be defined by the evils I have suffered. I don’t want to be shaped by the evils of this world in which I live.”

There is hope for you in Jesus Christ today. Evil did not overcome Him, and if you walk with Him, it will not overcome you.

How could you exercise one of these goods (faith, hope, or love) in your situation?