Christians Should Defend Pt. 1 | Anchored in Hope Devotionals

I don’t know about you, but I believe that Christians should take self-defense pretty seriously. I believe that Christians should defend life, but things get really tricky really fast. I am going to make five claims that I believe I can back up Biblically.

1. Christians should not desire to kill in order to personally avenge themselves.

2. Christians should defend others' lives.

3. Christians should defend themselves only to defend life.

4. Christians should always try to save the life of the killer.

5. Christians should understand that ultimately, our lives and the life of the killer are in God’s hands.

So, let’s get started.

Romans 12:19 says “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”

Leviticus 19:18 says, “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.”

Proverbs 20:22 says, “Do not say “I will repay evil”; wait for the Lord, and he will deliver you.”

It is not our duty to avenge ourselves. We must leave that up for the Lord to do. If we avenged ourselves, the probability that we would be just and fair is close to zero, because we are naturally greedy and selfish. (James 3:16).

Psalm 82:4 says “Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”

Isaiah 1:17 says “Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.”

And 1 John 3:16 says “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.”

God desires that we help those who cannot help themselves, and sometimes that will be people whose lives are being threatened. Life has immense value, as we were all created in the form of our creator (Genesis 1:27) to glorify and praise Him. People will know us Christians by our love, and there is no love greater than laying down our lives for our brothers.

I will save the last three points for a part 2, but thank you so much for reading, and I hope you have appreciated this devotional. God bless.

- Noah Davis