Overcome Evil with...Tweets!

Today I had my first Twitter shock.  I discovered that people post pornography on Twitter.  Lots of people.  Lots of pictures.

But that is not the shocking part. The internet is full of pornography, nothing new here.

The shocking part is that Twitter allows it.  And that you can get a Twitter account at any age.  Which in my mind equated to, “Twitter Supports Exposing Minors to Pornography”.

After my initial outraged-sobbing-yelling-hair-peeled-back explosion, I did a little internet research on Twitter and pornography.  Apparently they’ve been in the news here and there for several years now on this topic.  Their position is to monitor what appears directly on their site, but to not monitor links to external sites.  They leave it up to the individual user to determine who to follow and who to block.
Still a bit upset about all of this, I went for my daily walk with the Lord.  I walked, listened to worship music, and processed. 

“OK, well, then, I just won’t use Twitter.  I’ll show them!  I can’t believe so many other Christians are out there, are they all oblivious to this awful danger?  What am I missing here?  I just can’t believe this!  I’m going to take action, write to someone, see …”

“Overcome evil with good.”

The Lord interrupted my ranting with His still small voice.  The complete verse is, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”  (Romans 12:21 NIV) 

Yes, I allowed the evil I found in Twitter to overcome my thoughts, my emotions, and my time.  I was ready to attack – not just the evil, but all those who I felt should be DOING something.

Then I realized it:  they ARE doing something.  They are posting about the Lord, His goodness, His truth.  They are sharing each other’s posts of encouragement, love, and kindness. 

They are overcoming evil with tweets.  Good tweets.  Hopeful tweets.

And I want to be a part of that action. 

Time to refocus. 

I’m thankful to serve an awesome and amazing God, who brought just the right correction to me at just the right time. He allowed me to process my emotions – nothing wrong with that – and corrected me before I could take action…like deleting my Twitter account.

Now I am not only excited about the great possibilities of Twitter, but I consider it a privilege to have the opportunity to “tweet” along with my brother and sisters in Christ. So many people in this world are searching, seeking, restless, and lonely. The more people share God’s truth, love, and grace on Twitter, the more opportunity everyone will have to meet Him and know Him.

Including those who use Twitter for evil.  May they be overcome by Jesus Tweets!

Today’s Challenge:  Where have you reacted to evil and allowed that reaction to impact your choices?  How can you overcome that evil with good?