ABSTAINING FROM EVIL

A primary school teacher once asked his pupils for the synonym of evil, he got a chorus answer -'bad', 'wicked', 'devilish', 'dreadful', 'painful' etc he asked further if someone could describe  the word 'evil',one of the pupils got up not having a word of expression grinned and frowned deeply then said 'something very very baaaad'. 

This is just a human view point,what about God's,ponder on this.
Men do evil when they are subtly deceived by the devil through his multifaceted wiles and schemes and for some their consciences have been seared with a hot iron and so habitually do evil.

Evil in its simplest  form is the opposite of good while good itself is anything worthy of commendation because of its inherent moral value and beneficial external effects.

Worthy of note first of all is that, evil can never be good, evil proves harmful always,causing great loss and suffering.  Evil can be traced to the devil,infact the world is said to lie in the power of the evil one (1Jn5;19,Eph 2;2),the devil with his various schemes subtly deceives men to do evil,scriptures refer to him as the deceiver of the whole world (Rev12;9) though some men habitually disobey God because they have seared their conscience with a hot iron,nevertheless the devil is the source of evil which he introduced at the fall of man.        

In shedding light on this topic it would be necessary to take a look at the position of the christian as it concerns this world,evil and the devil.

This world in context does not just talk about the physical earth but a system,an order an apt and harmonious arrangement being referred to in the Greek as the word "cosmos". That the devil reigns over the system of this world is clear from bible (Jn12;31,Jn14;30,2Cor4;4),when Adam and eve were deceived and made a choice for the devil they lost dominion and the devil began to reign in the affairs of this world (Rom6:19),this is evident throughout the ages until the advent of Christ Jesus. The christian is one who has been delivered from the meshes of the fallen world,through his faith in Christ Jesus he has experienced a rebirthing from God (Jn1;13) and he is no longer a natural man but posseses a new nature which empowers him to live above evil.   

The christian though in this world is no longer of the world that is though living in this world is not part of the fallen world system,he has been redeemed but lives in it as a stranger and an ambassador for Christ and handles the world as his field of service.

Living in this world however one is faced with varying situations and circumstances that puts one in positions of either obeying God or responding positively to our natural apppetites or the flesh.      

To abstain from evil therefore is to actively hold oneself back from evil,this requires a deliberate step of knowing the will of God,identifying a potential pitfall and refraining from the path of evil with an intention to obey God.When the devil brings those evil suggestions to our minds,instead of brooding over them we should rather take a position for Christ and completely avoid such compromising situations,it could come in the form of undefined relationships,ungodly associations,harmful exposures like obscenity,pornography or bad habits as anger,malice,addictions or things generally which are not convienient,evil does not usually present itself as so,but as one tows its path it reveals itself and brings unpleasant consequences.

Obedience is the key to abstain from evil, a life completely governed by God evidenced through the leading of the Spirit is one who abstains from evil.When evil suggestions flashes our mind let us know like in the temptation of Jesus that the christian's allegiance is solely to God and our response is to obey him and fulfil his will.THIS IS THE WAY TO ABSTAIN FROM EVIL.