Abstain From All Appearance of Evil

“Abstain from all appearance of evil.” 1 Thessalonians 5:22

To abstain from something means “to deliberately not do something; to refrain, resist, or restrain ones self from something.”

If someone has a problem with eating too much food and becomes overweight, they can abstain from eating foods that are “problem foods” for them. Maybe their weakness is pizza so instead of eating pizza they can abstain from that and find something else they like that doesn’t have so many calories.

Someone could also resist or refrain from sleep if they have a project that they really want to get done. They force themselves to stay awake to finish.

“Appearance” means “the way that someone or something looks; the outward look or aspect.” For example, you can look at the appearance of a store and usually determine if it is closed if there are no lights on inside the store. 

Or imagine if someone is going to find a new car at a car lot and there are a handful of different cars there that they like. However, each car is the same year, model and price. The only difference is the color. That person will pick the car they want based on appearance. 

“Evil” is “morally wrong or bad; immoral; wicked.” 

So to “abstain from all appearance of evil” is to refrain or resist from looking like something that is immoral or wicked.

An example would be as simple as Halloween. What do some of the kids (and some adults, too, I guess) dress up as? Demons, devils, witches, and other evil things. These things are wicked and completely against Christianity. 

Or imagine that you are driving through a neighborhood of a town and you see a group of people dressed up in gang colors, holding weapons, and swearing profusely. Would you let your child go out and play around this kind of neighborhood? Probably not! Why? Because these people have the appearance that they are going to be doing evil things.

Because all sin is evil, we don’t want to do those things that are contrary to what is taught in the Bible. Keep yourselves clean from the filth of sin. Let others see your love to them; don’t be filled with hate. Show humility, not pride.

So how should we appear like? All we need to do is look at Jesus. How did He live? How did He act? Was Jesus out doing evil things? No. He was out helping people, healing people. He fed others at the feeding of the 5 thousand. He had compassion on others. He forgives us of our sins. Jesus is the ultimate example of how to live a Godly appearance.

We want the world to look at Christians and say, “They sure are a nice group of people. Maybe we should go and see what Christianity is all about.” We want our lives to bring glory to God. 

“Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 

Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. 

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 5:14-16

A lot of evil happens in the dark. Put off the works of darkness and live in the light of Christ.

In Christ,

Andrew