Do no evil
People who love the Lord hate evil. ~ Psalm 97:10a (NCV)
It’s God’s will that by doing good you will silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. Do this as God’s slaves, and yet also as free people, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil. ~ 1 Peter 2:15-16 (CEB)
Lord,
THANKS: Thank you for defeating evil on the cross.
REGRETS: It is unthinkable that any of your followers would intentionally participate in evil. But maybe we fool ourselves into accepting evil. Maybe one evil doesn't seem as great as another evil so we allow the lesser evil to exist in our lives.
INTERCESSION: Cure me of that warped perception and bad attitude. I need your help in moving beyond the cynicism and sarcasm that I spout in order to appear more righteous than I am. Purge even the small evils from my life.
PURPOSE: I want to live freely with such a changed life that I'm not having to monitor every little thing in my head lest I allow it to blossom into something evil.
Amen.
TRANSLATIONS
ABP = Authorized Boydston Paraphrase — my own freestyle biblical adaptation — somewhere between paraphrase, commentary, and sermon
CEB = Common English Bible (©2011, the Common English Bible)
CEV = Contemporary English Version (©1995, American Bible Society)
MSG = The Message (©1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson)
NIRV = New International Reader's Version (©1996, 1998, Biblica)
NIV = New International Version (©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011, Biblica)
NLT = New Living Translation (©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, Tyndale House Foundation)
