Say good, do good

Saturday August 28, 2021

Say good, do good

The Lord said to Satan : Where are you from ? Satan answered the Lord : To roam the earth and to walk in it. Job 1:7 : 2:2

You will not spread slander among your people, and you will not attack the life of your neighbor. Leviticus 19:16

Turn away from evil and do good, and you will have a home forever. Psalm 37:27

In Scripture, if there is a phrase that one reads without attaching too much importance to it, it is "here and there." It appears more or less often depending on the translations. On closer inspection, we discover that with very rare exceptions, it is used in a negative context or linked to reprehensible activities.

Twice, in the book of Job, Satan admits to walking here and there on the earth, proof moreover that he is not omnipresent. It is said of God alone that his eyelids search the sons of men from his throne in heaven (Psalm 11:4). In his walks, Satan observes men and then accuses them before God. He does this for Job, for the high priest Joshua (Zechariah 3:1) and for others after them (Revelation 12:10).

But this activity, proper to Satan, of seeking out evil and spreading it, is hated by God, whoever exercises it (Romans 1:30). He condemns it in the most absolute manner, admitting no exceptions : You will not spread slander among your people, and you will not attack the life of your neighbor. Several writers of New Testament epistles severely censure backbiting. Paul (2 Corinthians 12:20), Peter (1 Peter 2:1), John (3 John 10) and James, who is the most direct (James 3), are unanimous : slander is incompatible with the Christian vocation, harmful for the testimony and its only result is to poison the relations between brothers and sisters. We are warned ! Let us therefore imitate Philemon instead : he recognizes all the good that is in the servants of the Lord, and this spiritual and positive attitude cements their communion (Philemon. 6).

Let us also remember the apostle John's recommendation to Gaius: Beloved, do not imitate evil, but good (3 John 11). Gaius is in a church where a certain Diotrephus, out of pride and wickedness, slanders John, rejects missionaries and excommunicates the faithful. What to do in these circumstances ? Just set an example by turning away from evil and pursuing good, for the power of example is very great.

Source (Pleasing the Lord)