Condensed from a Sept. 12 pastoral letter.

I will never forget the evening of Dec. 14, 2023. That was the night our daughter called, panicked and in tears. A deranged gunman was on the loose, and she and her family were in his crosshairs.

An hour later the man was dead by suicide. Yet before he took his own life, he murdered in cold blood Chrissy, Autumn (7 months pregnant) and Alaria. My daughter’s mother-in-law and sisters-in-law. These were people I pastored for years — girls I baptized when they were little. People I once vacationed with.

Even as I write this, I feel the throat-tightening fear, shock and anger.

Gone.

For no reason whatsoever.

Just . . . gone.

This past week, all of us — by extension — have been assaulted by violent actions and rhetoric.

What are Jesus-followers to do with our grief and outrage?

Something must be done with these emotions. Why? Because every human heart has the capacity for hatred and violence.

Including your heart and mine.

But here’s the thing: While every human heart has the capacity for hatred and violence, no human heart can contain them. Hatred and violence are universal acids. They eat away every heart in which they are stored.

So, what is a Jesus-follower to do?

I think the answer comes to us from the Apostle Paul. In times like these, he encourages us: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21).

Only good can conquer evil. It is not possible to overcome evil with evil. It is not possible to overcome hate with hate or darkness with darkness.

Jesus calls us to follow him in overcoming evil. Thus, we are called to walk with him and each other in love and light.

Redemptive violence is a myth. The great lie, as old as humanity, is that violence will save us. It will not and cannot.

Violence can do only one thing: Beget more violence.

Jesus simply cannot be followed in the eye-for-an eye way. The Jesus way is to love God with all you are and your neighbor as yourself. And I believe each of us knows the answer to “Who is my neighbor?”

Don’t try to hide or smother or repress your anger and moral outrage. But don’t nurse them either. Let these things be a starting point at most, but a staying point never.

Don’t be formed by the world. Let the Holy Spirit transform you. In trying times, surrender to the Spirit’s love, joy and peace.

Steve Griffin is pastor of Bellwood Mennonite Church in Milford, Neb.