Overcome Evil With Good

To my son,

                In his letter to the Romans, Paul gave a lot of great counsel to us on how we can treat others and follow the Savior Jesus Christ. He wrote, “Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another…. Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not…. live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink…. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:9-10, 13, 18-21). I love this instruction that is similar to what the Savior taught us in His Sermon on the Mount. We should love our enemies and be good even to those who are mean to us. We can try to bless those who curse us and live peaceably with everyone around us, even those who are causing contention and strife. He taught here that we should not try to “get even” with those who wrong us, but we should instead remember that it is God who will judge each person. Gratefully, we don’t have to judge others or punish them—that will come in its own due time by the Lord. But the Lord asks us to “overcome evil with good,” meaning that we seek to respond to evil by being good to them. But, of course, that is no easy thing to do!

                The Prophet Joseph Smith is one who also taught us to love our enemies, and he sought to live by the same principle. One story is told of him this way: “After being kidnapped by two sheriffs and brutally treated by them, his life constantly being threatened, the Prophet Joseph was rescued by his friends. Instead of his being escorted across the Mississippi River into Missouri, as the sheriffs intended to do, he was brought to Nauvoo. While in Nauvoo, the prophet took the two sheriffs to his home, placed them at the head of his table, and his wife waited on them as though they were the most honored guests that had ever graced her house. Joseph said, ‘I have brought these men to Nauvoo, not as prisoners in chains, but as prisoners of kindness. I have treated them kindly. I have had the privilege of returning them good for evil.’” So, he brought these two men who had sought to unjustly arrest him and who treated him with hatred to his home and fed them dinner. That is a powerful example of loving your enemies. Another example comes from the time when Joseph Smith was unjustly taken prisoner in Missouri. One of the officers of the militia who captured him, Moses Wilson, tried to bribe Lyman Wight (a member of the church) into testifying against Joseph so they could kill Joseph. Wight responded, “Wilson, you have your men entirely wrong—both in regard to myself and to Joseph Smith. Joseph Smith is the most philanthropic man I ever saw. He is not your enemy; he is a friend of mankind and a maker of peace. In fact, he is the best friend you have, for if it hadn’t been for Joseph Smith, you would have been in hell long ago. I’d have put ya there myself…, and Joseph is the only man on earth that could stop me from doin’ it. You can just thank Joseph for being alive.” Years later this man, Moses Wilson, recounted, “Joseph Smith was a most remarkable man. I carried him a prisoner in chains to my house in Independence, Missouri, and he hadn’t been there two hours before my wife loved him better than she loved me.” Joseph indeed sought to love his enemies and to live by the teachings of the Savior. He was not perfect, and neither are we, but we can also strive to love all those around us and respond to meanness with kindness every chance we get. I encourage you to seek more earnestly to follow Paul’s invitation and “overcome evil with good” through your love and kindness you show others.  

Love,

Dad