Key Verse: 1 Thessalonians 5:15 

 “See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all.”

There is a lot of evil in our world today. Everywhere we look there seems to be murders, rape, and betrayal. When living in a world where evil seems to be done to so many people, and oftentimes some type of evil is done to you, it is easy to begin to want revenge. It is easy to begin to plot someone else’s downfall. Here Paul is reminding his readers that we are not called to return evil for evil. We are not called to trade insults, or plot the demise of others. We are called to pursue that which is good. We are to pursue good for ourselves and also for all people. This does not mean that we overlook the evil of other people, rather we let God be our vengeance. We pursue good if at all possible. In every situation, we seek to glorify God and lead those doing evil to Christ. We allow Christ to be our defender. Instead of worrying about vengeance we need to be more concerned with love. Love chooses not to repay evil for evil. Love chooses to forgive just as Christ has forgiven us. Today if you’re dealing with evil people at work or school, I want to encourage you to allow God to be your defender. Pursue good deeds, and pursue that person with the goal of leading them to Jesus and showing them His love!