Do Not Be Overcome By Evil, But Overcome Evil With Good

Romans 12:21, NIV

Lay Your Grievances Down

I was a state witness to the execution of Velma Barfield, the first woman to be executed in the United States in more than twenty-two years. I had developed a friendship with her about six months prior to her execution as a result of her correspondence with my mother and had grown to love her as a sister in Christ. Following the execution, a newspaper reporter called me, probing my reaction. “Anne, how are you going to get back at the state? Aren’t you bitter?” I knew I had the opportunity to allow the grief over my friend’s death to go a step further and become a grievance that would become bitterness.

By God’s grace, I chose to take my reaction to the cross of Christ. In prayer…