Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. Rom. 72:21.

Christian maturity is not achieved by a so-called goodness, that holds badness merely in check. The Christian life is not badness stamped out, but crowded out. Error is overcome by truth. Darkness is overcome by the light. Hate is dispelled by love.

Conflict in the Christian life is a problem for many. Some try forcing the will. But the will cannot be flogged into submission. We do not conquer our personal problems and our sin, by concentrating on them. A life redeemed from failure is not the result of pulling up the tares, but of developing the wheat. Continual brooding over the defects of our lives and the sins of the past is most likely to lead to discouragement.

Unfortunately, many sincere people form the undesirable habit of letting the mind revolve around those things that are painful, ugly, and undesirable. It is in the presence of Christ that we overcome evil. In the power of His overflowing love and purity we make evil impossible. Self cannot overcome self. Hate will never turn into love. The Christian must not settle for less than what Christ is. In vain will humanity be redeemed by anyone less than the perfect man, Christ Jesus. Sin will not be overcome by the pressure of rules and regulations. The belief that all that is needed is another rule properly administered, is naive and deceiving. The law can make a man pay his income tax, but it cannot make him generous. The law can make a man conform to rules of the road, but it cannot make him courteous. The law can make a man conform to a moral code, but it cannot make him honest. The law may hold evil in check, but it will not make a man righteous.

It does not help to fulminate about the sins and mistakes of people. Granted it is easier to do this than to redeem people by love and understanding. It is far better to light a candle than to curse the darkness. It is far wiser and profitable as Christians to look continually to Christ than to contemplate the array of people's sins. The secret of victory is to look away from self and others to the only perfectly victorious, most loving Person who ever lived among us.