Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I rejoice because of you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

–Parallel verses:
Hebrews‬ ‭11:32-38‬
And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.

When Paul talks about the God of Peace crushing Satan under their feet, he is talking about a ROLE REVERSAL. The Christians of the early church underwent extreme persecution for the sake of Jesus. The parallel verses in Hebrews describe some of the horror and torture they endured in his name. Sure, he rescues some of his people, when he decided that was best, and others were martyred and out of it he still got the glory. But in the end, whether on this earth or in eternity, God’s children will have the ultimate victory and we will see the evildoers crushed, and we will tread on them. This is God’s justice. So, when evil comes, we must be innocent of it and not seek revenge. Notice it does not say to be foolish about evil, just innocent of it. The evil lords of this world already stand defeated in the victory of the cross of Jesus Christ. And we are to be wise about what is good. This is also very important. To be wise about something, this is beyond knowledge. It requires an intimate interaction with it. It requires experience and/or study. It is not enough to know what is good, we must strive to act in God’s goodness and research and find NEW WAYS TO PROPEL HIS GOODNESS into a lost and fallen world. All the while, we can celebrate amidst the persecution and hardship … we can celebrate this victory in Christ!

Thank you, Lord, for this encouraging word here. Help me to research and “invent” new ways of doing good! May I not retaliate when evil rears its ugly head, but stay on the “Goodness of God” train. Thank you for enabling me to do this in every situation!