“Get even.”  “You ought to get them told.”  “It’s ok if you don’t get caught.”  “You’re just afraid to drink.”  “Don’t work, if you can get out of it.”  “You’re just afraid to go to the party where there is drinking”, “It’s just a dance.”  I am sure you could add to the list of some that encourage you to do evil.  They seemingly want to have a partner in wrong doing.

“Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment: . . . . “     Exodus 23:2

I have known some that were so bent on vengeance when others have wronged them, that they will not rest until vengeance is done.  Sometimes the vengeance will be through words.  Hateful words being exchanged between the parties about actions, differences, or a perceived wrong whether real or imagined.   They will try to bring others into their orbit to go along with the wrongdoing.  God has taught us how to handle problems with our brethren, and others in our lives.

“Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee;  Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way;  first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.”      Matthew 5:23-24

“Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone:  if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.  But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.  And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church:  but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.”       Matthew 18:15-17

Then there are others that want you to participate in drinking, and when you tell them why you do not participate, will tell you. “It’s only one drink.  One drink never hurt anybody.”

“Abstain from all appearance of evil.”      I Thessalonians 5:11

“Who hath woe?  who hath sorrow?  who hath contentions?  who hath babbling?  who hath wounds without cause?  who hath redness of eyes?  They that tarry long at the wine;  they that go to seek mixed wine.  Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.  At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder  Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.  Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.  They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not:  when shall I awake?  I will seek it yet again.”   Proverbs 23:29-35

No matter what situation we encounter in life, it is in His Word of how we are to treat our fellow man, whom we associate, and how to live our lives that will be pleasing to Him.  Let us follow His plan for salvation and take up our cross and follow Him.

“Whether to go with the right or the wrong is an ever pressing decision for man.  Each beckons, and the decision that is made affects destiny.  Though the world is filled with many wrongs supported by many people, it’s still my firm conviction that nearly everybody deep down in his heart wants to do right.

The major problems are a lack of knowledge or a temporary temptation that sways him to the wrong.  Sometimes it’s peer pressure.  Clearly it’s not a matter of who is right but what is right.  So let us follow the straight course even if we have no one to walk with us but God.”     ~  Leroy Brownlow

“Wrong is wrong even if everyone is doing it.  Right is right even if no one is doing it.”
~ Augustine

Eileen Light