Fret Not

The Bible says, “Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity, For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb. Trust in the Lord, and do good.” Suppose your brother-man does not always act as you think is right, are you raising the standard of purity any by returning evil for evil? “The wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.” Acts of violence accomplish very little good. A Christian’s duty is to promote peace and harmony all the time. “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you,” are the words of our Master to his followers. There is power in peace, but it seems Christ’s followers are a long time in learning the meaning of his words.

“Great peace have they that love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.” If we love God’s word and ponder Christ’s teachings in our heart, we shall not be offended by the evil deeds of others. God’s Truth is mighty and will finally prevail over every evil. If one continually thinks of the evil in the world it will undoubtedly become a mountain before him, mystery will mount upon mystery until he will be overcome with the burden of it all. But God’s people are told to forsake evil and it will flee from you. Turn away from it, keep your gaze on good things, think more about goodness than evil, believe more in a good power than an evil power.

If all Christians remembered and practised the first commandment and acknowledged no other god but the one Good, God, sin would eventually become unknown. We would then also keep that other commandment, “Love thy neighbor as thyself.” We would overcome evil with good. We would have no desire for wrong practice, and we would be so much happier that others, seeing our good deeds, would be influenced thereby.

“Love worketh no ill to his neighbor: therefore Love is the fulfilling of the law.” Love is God for “God is Love,” and there is no power but of God. Then Love is the only power that can successfully and permanently obliterate evil.

“Why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling-block or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way.”

When the Pharisees brought the sinful woman before the Master for condemnation he said, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her,” and they were convicted by their own conscience, and went out one by one. “And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.” The command is imperative—Go, and sin no more. To another whom he had healed of physical disease he said, “Sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.” Their own actions contain the condemnation. Then Christians should spend more time teaching the good things of God, and less in antagonizing wicked people. Fill them with the beautiful Truth of the Bible and the desire for evil will vanish.

“See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men;” for “Love suffereth long, and is kind; Love envieth not; Love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not its own, is not provoked, taketh not account of evil.”

Evil is its own destroyer and the poor, misguided, shipwrecked brother who thinks he finds pleasure in sin will some day find out to his sorrow that he was sowing seed to the wind and is reaping the whirlwind from which he cannot escape until he has paid the uttermost farthing. Then let us by the persuasion of gentleness and kindness lead those who are ready to be led into the kingdom of harmony, and leave all others in the care of an all-wise God. There is no one wholly wicked; no one but in whom we can find some good if we look for it; and let us hope that what good there is, be it ever so little, is the seed that will some day spring into life and keep on growing into the fulness of the stature of Christ. “Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another,” and “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusteth in Thee.”