Villains don’t fight fair.

So why do you keep expecting them to? Why do you live as if wicked men are going to suddenly wake up and start acting like men of honor? Why do you keep giving the benefit of the doubt to those who have left no doubt at all about their evil plans?

That is, why do you keep putting the best constructions on the devil’s lies?

When Dr. Luther wrote to “put the best construction on everything,” he was talking about your personal life. Rather than slander, he said, go to the proper authority.

When there are no more proper authorities, the only recourse you have left to you is your God.

Praying for your enemies always means praying against them. To “hate them with perfect hatred,” as the psalmist teaches, is not a license to follow base passions, to curse and vex, or to repay evil with evil. It is to pray against evil by calling out to the good God in the certainty that He is the one who always judges justly.

You do not love your neighbor by standing idle as he is beaten, robbed, and murdered. You may not be in a place to defend him with the sword, but vengeance is the Lord’s and He is your God. If you’re not going to call out to Him that He would stop the wicked, then you will not be calling out to Him much at all. With certainty, putting the best construction on evil can only hinder your prayers.

Till angel cry and trumpet sound,
The Mad Christian