THINK TOGETHER
Do you know the difference between good and evil? What makes something good? What makes something evil?
READ TOGETHER
Being a Christian is all about learning how to love. And Romans 12 is all about how to love each other. We can’t love each other well until we know the difference between what is good and what is evil. So in his letter to the Romans Paul says this:
Romans 12:21. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
If we are going to love God and each other then we have to be able to tell the difference between what is evil and what is good. Evil is anything that goes against God and his love. Evil is all around us. People hate each other. People even hurt each other sometimes. People fight, and bully, and are mean to each other. Have you ever been evil?
The good news is that a person can also be overcome by good. Good is also a powerful force in the world, and when you have Jesus you have the force of his goodness inside of you. Whenever you want to sin or disobey God, Jesus is there showing you how to be good instead. When you want to hate someone, Jesus shows you how to love. When you want to hurt your enemy, Jesus shows you that you can be kind.
Paul calls this overcoming evil with good. And that is what Jesus and the cross are all about. At the cross, Jesus overcame evil with good. He conquered all that is evil by the power of his good life. He beat up all hate with love. He crushed all sin with salvation. Jesus didn’t become evil to defeat evil. He used the goodness of God to defeat evil and rise from the dead. Now, with Jesus’ resurrection power inside of us, we too can use the goodness of Jesus’ life to overcome evil with good.
Because of Jesus we have God’s goodness inside of us.
With Jesus we can overcome evil with good.
DO SOMETHING TOGETHER
Talk about some practical ways that your family can overcome evil with good. Maybe by helping someone who is stuck in a hard situation, or by making choices to forgive and be kind to those who haven’t always been kind to you.
PRAY TOGETHER
Jesus, at the cross you overcame evil with good. Help me to overcome evil with good too. Help me to love and not hate, even those who are hard to love. Amen.
TLICfamily 