This is just an introduction as attempting to answer the question of why there is pain and suffering in the world and more personally within our own individual lives. For starters, I think this is often a complex question which I believe can be answered generally, though limited, as unable to always give an exact explanation on a case by case basis. Actually there have been many books written on this very subject and it is a frequently asked question which on this side of eternity may not always be precisely known, or unanswerable, through the limits of human knowledge as seeing through a glass darkly, 1 Corinthians 13:12.
My concern with this blog is that people often correlate the existence of pain and suffering with the non-existence of God. However, a lack of understanding or disagreement to the presence of evil in life does not necessitate that conclusion.
Also sometimes this objection is just a disingenuous excuse to excuse themselves from God.
For others, it is purely an emotional objection not based on logic or rational choices but on our egotistical feelings which aren’t always stable indicators or reliable sources of truth. A part of this is that we treat happiness as the measure of all things, or the end result, to determine right and wrong. Yet a persons happiness can be selfish, temporal, superficial, and misleading which can even infringe on another persons happiness.
Does hedonism promote happiness?
Who am I and why am I here?
The other aspect of this is tied to both the emotional pain and the senseless suffering of sentient beings as victims under this system which becomes more of a valid objection to the condition of this global tragedy. Anyway I won’t be addressing the various scenarios that make up this question but will offer a more plausible explanation to answering the question of “Why”.
To begin with by taking a purely naturalistic approach to solving this crisis through human effort alone; it is often limited in leading to disappointment. This is because it generally becomes a conflict of interest for mankind as a whole to be both the sickness and the remedy to the problem which I have previously written about in these articles below.
If you expect nothing less than heaven on earth then this becomes problematic and self refuting as you would spoil this utopia with your own personal evil.
The Salvation of Secular Humanism
Marxism, Leninism, Maoism and Ho Chi Minh Thought on Communism
Philosophically, if a Godless society were a reality then trying to define evil would be a problem as adding value to a relative term; as there would be no overarching principle or absolute standard in which to judge anything as right or wrong, which out of logical necessity, becomes a moral argument for God.
To just say that it is basically human to be moral does nothing to ground or originate morality in the ultimate sense of the word but only pushes back the question to a greater explanation or cause. To say that there is evil you would have to also know that good exists and how do you justify it through personal preference; as one persons or one societies good can be another persons evil e.g., Hitler, Jihadists, Satanists. So it becomes problematic and unlivable to leave this term open-ended for interpretation as merely an indeterminate token of autonomous expression as delegated to a personal or cultural preference which doesn’t correspond to reality as local regulatory agencies and global councils often intervene on behalf of moral issues which can’t be purely subjective or situational as requiring these legislative systems to enforce laws and provide support with a degree of accountability. This sense of justice is mostly a good system, in as much as it retains a resemblance to the “image of God”, by which a common humanity was formed as earthly stewards to recognize and uphold similar moral categories; even it lacks perfection due to the failure of human agencies, Romans 2:14-16, 13:1-5.
From a non theist position, morality becomes inconsistent as many anthropologists and scientists classify mankind as just a privileged primate while on the other hand demand that we can’t behave as animals as these naturalist theorists bow down to putting their faith in the mysterious, all mighty and mindless force of Natural Selection as a means to sovereignly bring about this end towards the advancement of life.
jesusandjews.com/wordpress/atheist-agnostic-non-theist/
An Atheist has faith
Anthropic principle (Is human life an accident)
The evolution of man
Personally I think it is more reasonable to put ones trust in a sovereign intelligence, namely God, as a to guide this process.
When it comes to religion some may see this as the main source of this problem yet statistically that has not been the case.
Religion is the source of trouble in the world
However, in resolving the issue of evil; secularism, like false religion, has limitations as seen among some of the major world religions as some forms of Hinduism deny that evil exists as illusory or embraces the karmic cycle of retribution. Buddhism, escapes suffering, albeit snuffing out personal desire through the vehicle of self-denial, while Islam fosters it as necessary to bring about world dominance in submission to Allah. The Christian world view faces evil as recognizing mankind as sinfully flawed who is in need of redemption and transformation in order to reverse this curse as eliminating both its cause and its consequential effect through a relationship with God as He graciously and mercifully reached down towards humanity as justly accomplished through the person and work of Christ and lived out accordingly among its followers versus the limitations of human nature through self effort or religious merit as trying to somehow reach upward.
How to know God
Some may see this argument as proof against theism, at least against Judeo-Christian beliefs, concerning the nature of God. Yet ironically, the world’s system mostly uses a biblical definition to elements of good and evil with the need for a justice system. Of course, there are instances in which dissenters would deny any kind of God principle to morality by presenting an anomaly to personal and social conventions but it only goes to show how the devolution of some cultures are more depraved than others in rebellion against God, Romans 1:18-32.
In dealing with the nature of evil there is both a spiritual response and a practical application to this problem. The bible, as a standard, is in agreement to how society ought to behave as defining good and evil based on the obedience or disobedience to God’s will and purpose for mankind as to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind along with the golden rule as “doing unto others what you would have them do to you” or loving others as yourself, Mt 7:12, Mt 22:36-40, which is a general summary of the decalogue or the ten commandments found in Exodus 20. This basic law code has not only been written on tablets of stone but has been engraved upon the heart of mankind as either accusing or excusing our conscious of right and wrong, Romans 1:18-32, 2:14-16, as well as an enhanced visual acuity to noticing a higher power.
Is God unknowable
Where is God
Who is God
Yet what gives real authority to the biblical witness is not just its ability to define good and evil on the basis of human nature along with do’s and don’ts, which can to some degree be done by some of these other systems as well, but rather it is able to effectively and practically cure or heal this sinful heart condition with a heart transplant as exchanging our heart of stone with a heart of flesh by the operative power of the Holy Spirit as to regenerate mankind through the new birth, Ezekiel 36:25-27, 1 Corinthians 3:16. Granted, this does not make us equal to God in moral perfection as we are still dealing with imperfect people who still make choices as living within the complexity of an unregenerate worldly system which continues to express free will. The solution, though powerfully sufficient, is not always effectually actualized even though it is always potential in that it deals with human weakness with a battle of the will, Galatians 5:16-26. Of course, the skeptic may try to require perfection as proof or evidence of this even though it can’t uphold this same sort of standard for themselves or even its preferred system thus somehow downgrading Christianity as not the “only way”, but just any other path view, and yet to do so is mythical in deifying mankind as a demigod apart from the One perfect being of God which is contrary to what some religions might teach but are unable to substantiate.
Some may even see Christianity as the problem in blaming Christian as the perpetrators of evil as persecuting others such as during the Crusades and the Inquisition. Yet Christ never said anything about fighting for His kingdom in this manner during this present dispensation of grace but rather they are to serve as the healing agents of society, Mt.5:38-48, 10:1. Jesus taught in parables about a pseudo church who would make claims to Christ but behave hostilely like the rest of the world in which He denies as not even knowing them as His true followers, Mt. 7:21-23. In response to this some of the greatest institutions in human history have come through the church, such as hospitals and orphanages, as Christ’s love is practically extended to loving our neighbor.
Hypocrites in the Church
Even if Atheists consent to a biblical influence of morality they would still deny that the biblical God exists due to the reality of global catastrophes which is seemingly contrary to any kind of omnibenevolent and omnipotent being. This would completely leave God out of the equation or deemed ineffectual in solving this problem as impotent to stop evil in the world such as with the finite god of process theology and open theism or perhaps indifferent/impersonal such as the god of deism or worst yet a capricious dictator who is gaming with human lives.
A favorable option to this dilemma is that God sovereignly allows for mankind’s free will as temporarily permitting human evil along with its consequential repercussions to either directly or indirectly affect all of creation as corporately linked or connected, which will inevitably result in judgment as finalizing the enemy of evil along with a universal liberation with a new heavens and new earth in exterminating this plague of evil. Likewise this is a similar model to how mankind generally values human freedom as coupled with a judicial system which is a foreshadowing of God’s economy, even though this earthly structure is not perfect or completely adequate as many have gone unpunished by their crimes which becomes another reason for the final judgment of God. So in the end God will preside as having the final ruling in every person’s evil including their rejection of Him as giving all their due process. Thus justice delayed is not justice denied.
Is Hell Real
What the Hell
Because of His goodness, God is not merely vindictive as eager to fill the furnaces of hell which was originally established for the devil and his angels, not for human occupancy, Mt. 25:41. He does not immediately enact justice of which no one would be found completely innocent of as we are all guilty to some degree or another but according to His mercy is slow to anger. After all, would you really want the justice of God to always be swift and immediate then needless to say this would help solve the problem but not in a beneficial way towards any of us. Some may be like the scoffer in 2 Peter 3: 3-15 who said where is the promise of His coming as mocking the slowness to God’s final judgement or like the patient rabbi on Fiddler on the Roof who commented about having to wait for the Messiah elsewhere. Yet to bring about prematurely the finality of evil would consume some of those whom He patiently awaits to receive into His kingdom, as His desire is that none should perish but that all come to repentance, 2 Peter 3:9, 1 Timothy 2:1-4 .
Anyway we might question the length and breadth of suffering in this world yet in regards to eternity it is only momentary and fleeting. The Bible likens the duration of a human life as a breath or a passing shadow. It may not be comforting or reassuring in the temporal scheme of suffering but inevitably it should still give us an eternal hope of glory as contrasted with our temporary afflictions, 2 Corinthians 4:8-18, John 16:33.
A reflective and honest appraisal of this whole matter should cause us to ask the question concerning ourselves if we have personally caused any evil? Have we violated others at any time to any degree? Are we innocent? Are we strictly the victim or are we also the perpetrators of sin crimes? Furthermore, what have we done to help eliminate suffering in our world?
In respect to eradicating evil in our world, mankind has been given the responsibility as co-regents to rule and reign as God’s representatives of authority as stewards of the Earth which accounts for 95% of the cases while the smaller percentage of natural disasters aka ‘Act(s) of God’ could still be provided a level of support, Genesis 1:26. Thus our questioning to this whole dilemma has been misdirected at God when it should have led to scrutinizing ourselves as to whether or not we have utilized our God-given resources to help manage evil.
Anyway when trying to understand the nature of evil the bible dates it all the way back to the beginning of humanity and even before with the rebellion of Satan and his demonic cohorts. If you study the creation account you will see that what God originally created was good; imprinting mankind with His likeness as an intelligent being with a free and willful capacity to make choices which as you know can be influenced either way. In the process of time this resulted in mankind’s first deliberate act of rebellion against the Creator followed by God’s judgment as mankind’s action led to a pandemic of evil as infecting all of humanity as this evil gene was passed down through a common ancestry as the progenitor of the human race. This disease or contagion has affected all of creation as contaminating the world due to its consequential effect upon the subjects of their rule, Genesis 3:14-19, Ecclesiastes 7:20, Proverbs 20:9. As a part of this mutating curse its has altered the human nature as hindering mankind’s natural ability to positively respond to God and properly relate to others and like the second law of thermodynamics it went from a state of order to entropy. This combined with the allying powers of Satan as rebellious creatures joined forces to maker a synergism as thickening the plot of evil against God’s goodness. Mind you, this is unlike any sort of dualism which would see this as a battle between the coequal powers or forces of good and evil, and even though they are oppositional according to nature, these inferior Creatures can never be greater than its superior Creator. Thus evil is not Evil as some kind of equal rival that could overcome God but rather it is a perversion or a corruption of God’s good nature according to His will and purpose.
Some may object that it is not fair for our nature to be under sins control as being preprogrammed because of the “fall” or moral failure of our ancient earthly parents, yet this is no excuse as God did not abandon us as orphaned children who used Jesus as our brother and Lord to renew our nature as to overcome sin so as to be adopted by our heavenly Father. What the first Adam failed at; the second Adam, Christ, succeeded in; as restoring us in fellowship with the God of Eden. Thus the eternal effects of one man’s obedience far outweigh the temporal effects of the other’s disobedience, 1 Corinthians 15, Romans 5. Finally the whole crux of the mater is an overconfidence of thinking that we could have done any better than Adam’s original attempt at free choice.
Anyway when examining the philosophical objections of evil in respect to God, a person may reason that if God providentially created everything or if everything is God, like in pantheism, then that must also include evil yet the bible declares that God can not sin nor causes anyone to sin, James 1:12-18. When God tests others He does so as to expose the genuineness or true nature of the person as an actualized reality, not as theory or a random event, but is intentional (a) to bring about His righteous judgment, (b) to justify by proving our love and faithfulness, and (c) discipline to produce repentance so as to be restored to God as a merciful and redemptive act of love.
In regards to the other side of this matter the enemy of our soul, namely Satan the Tempter, deliberately tempts as his only objective is to steal, kill, and destroy others, Genesis 3:1-5;13-15, Matthew 4:1-11, 1 Peter 5:8-9, and John 10:10.
In the course of such actions the grace of God can lead us to overcoming sin while the wickedness of Satan would strive against us so that we would be overcome by sin.
For those who are acquainted with the scriptures this then brings other sorts of questions such as biblical paradoxes in respect to the nature of evil which give the critic the first impression that God either willfully or unwillfully violates His own rules, laws and ordinances of goodness as being no different than the cruelty of the Nazis to conduct human experiments, such as God hardening Pharaoh’s heart, whose heart was already hardened, yet softens the antagonistic heart of Paul in his conversion, God bringing a just disaster while mercifully bringing salvation to all who would believe upon His Son as desiring that none should perish, the annihilation of the Canaanites who God patiently waited for before destroying while giving repentance to the Ninevites, the testing of Job followed by him being restored twofold, the testing of the Israelites over 40 years in their wilderness journeys who often put God to the test yet Jesus was subjected to the duress of being tested as proven faithful after 40 days in the desert, the election of Jacob over Esau according to the eternal purposes of God who then extends that election to those who by nature were considered His enemies as the just Christ died for the unjust world so as to receive the favor of God, John 3:16-18. These examples appear to be contradictions but rather these situations, though not fully explanatory in this article, have been used by the near-sighted skeptic whose reading glasses have been adjusted to looking at God in only one way as a distortion to His glorious being. The bible tells us how to properly view God though the lens of truth according to His absolute goodness Psalm 103:8, 145:8-9, Nehemiah 9:29-35, Exodus 34:6-7.
Is God a Murderer
It follows that if God is to be blamed for all things, as the author of evil, then why is He often not credited for permitting good or perhaps even limiting evil? Why is there any good at all? God is often overlooked during times of prosperity but quick to fault when all hell breaks loose as if He can only be responsible for our bad times but not our good times. If we would think about ourselves as critically as we think about God it might actually lead us to becoming more constructive than merely lashing out in our frustration which often times leads to misusing rather than blessing His name. What about giving God the benefit of the doubt rather than doubting His benefits as considering the good by giving thanks besides just complaining about the bad. Often times we question God for not divinely intervening and demand Him to be subjected to us like some cosmic genie who we only want to let out of the bottle just long enough to make a wish during a moment of crisis which sounds more like relating formally to an insurance agent rather than the intimacy of a personal relationship.
Help God
In resolving this problem you might ask why didn’t God just create a world that didn’t have any evil and He did in it’s original state but to remove the human potential for evil would mean to be a robotic humanoid or animal as unable to freely choose to love the Creator to whom we were created by and for as mankind’s ultimate destiny and purpose as the highest value or quality of life, 1 Corinthians 13:13, 1 John 4:7-21. Thus in order to freely reciprocate this love leaves the possibility to freely chose to hate as rejecting His love.
God is love
God is all loving
Perhaps you may think it would have been best for God not to create at all if this was going to be the state of affairs and that seems reasonable had He not provided redemption for mankind which I will explain a little later. You may reason, why didn’t He just create a world where there would only be those who according to His omniscient foreknowledge would freely chose to love Him in obedience? Even then, God is perfect as having no co-equal and it’s not possible for God to create a being equal to Himself in that we are temporal contingent beings dependent on the eternal and necessary being of God. Though he created mankind as good there are still boundaries or limits within our humanity as inferior due to us having the potentiality for change, as becoming, while the Creator is immutable as pure actuality in every respect. You might even be surprised to know that it was no surprise to God that mankind would rebel, sin and violate His commands, laws and decrees and this is demonstrated as God had already prepared to compensate us as presenting the Lamb of God as crucified before the foundation of the world, and yet astoundingly, He chose to love us anyway during our sinful state, 1 Peter 1:19-20, Rev. 13:8. How amazing is that kind of love and how arrogant to refuse this wondrous provision of grace by thinking that we could really add or contribute anything of eternal significance to the salvific process by human effort, as if God inadequately depends on us.
Also if you tried to imagine a world where God would only create those who he knew would freely chose to reciprocate that love and then you begin to think at what point does this have to happen in life with the potential of sin constantly knocking at the door prior to us being of age for love and then after we say “I do” in keeping that door of opportunity permanently sealed and closed as never allowing sin across the threshold of our marriage. This sounds more like a fictitious romance novel in demanding the love of the imperfect bride to be equally matched with the perfect and faithful love of the eternal bridegroom. God’s love is impeccable, while ours is defective, which leads to a merciful relationship of trusting in Him rather than the efforts of a religious devotion of merit or works.
Some other possibilities to the presence of evil may actually be positive. Often when we think of examples of evil it is mostly in the most extreme cases which is an oversimplification to the process as evil can occur to various degrees, which in the lesser sense of the word, may help to avoid a greater evil or benefit from a greater good, e.g. maturity Romans 5:3-5.
As a companion to this argument, we are limited in knowledge and from our finitude we are at a disadvantage to fully comprehend the impact of evil which again may be allowed for a higher purpose in the bigger scope of things which should cause us to suspend judgment rather than sitting in judgement on God.
The greatest example of all this was the mysterious work of Christ who became flesh and blood; subjecting Himself to the pains of human suffering as our priestly intercessor, Hebrews 2:9-18, 4:14-16. The prophet Isaiah says that Jesus was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows and familiar with grief. He was oppressed and afflicted as paying the ultimate price with an untimely and horrific death as taking upon Himself the punishment for all sins, transgressions and iniquities as the sinless Savior who was sacrificed on the human altar of the cross to be tortured by His rebellious creatures as benefiting those who would trust Him as mercifully receiving forgiveness; having been justified and made righteous through His lifeblood as the beneficiaries of eternal life, John 3:16, Romans 3:9-31, 6:23.How awesome and unimaginable is this kind of love who according to the joy set before Him endured the cross as His own expenditure under the cruel treatment of a hostile world to expiate sins, Hebrew 12:2-3, John 1:10-13. Therefore for our good the greatest evil was committed or permitted as the very author of life freely laid down his own life, reconciling us unto God, John 10:11-18, Romans 5:9-10.
The basis of God’s nature as Creator is a sovereign and perfect love, 1 John 4:7-21. Love originated with God for the purpose of reciprocation towards Him and others which is a primal value that defines civilization at its very core e.g., the loving arms of our creaturely mother and yet how much more is the pure love of God outstretched to us through the loving arms of a Savior as embracing a cross so that the perfect love of God could ultimately be received as suffering with us and for us so that His pain might become our gain, Mt 7:7-12, John 15:13, Romans5:6-8.
Jesus life and death ultimately satisfied or propitiates the just and righteous requirements of God by giving His precious life as a ransom on behalf of undeserving creatures as a penal substitution which otherwise would have left us guilty before the holy tribunal of God. (1) For God showed kindness to mankind as transferring our guilt to the divine Son which could only occur upon two separate beings as a case against humanity saving themselves. Because of our sinful default, righteousness could only be settled and obtained by God, as cosigner, to mercifully liberate mankind from their debt of sin with the blood of Christ as paying the penalty or wages of our transgression with His death, not ours, as covering all costs to essentially purchase or redeem men unto God. Again ,this is necessary, as it is irreconcilable for God, in our earthly domain, to work both mercy and justice together in the same kind of person or being but rather He prepared a body in the person of Jesus as the incarnate God-man who willfully and righteously receives our punishment in bringing us peace with God as our mediatorial representative to mercifully release the guilty party of repentant human captives. So in the end, it comes down to the free will of man responding to God as to choose life or death, mercy or justice, blessing or a curse. You choose, and to not choose is to choose already as Jesus said that if you are not with me then you are against me, Josh 24:14-15, Deuteronomy 30:19-20.
Underlying this argument of redemption some may accuse God of a hero complex as just setting us up to fail as coming to rescue mankind with the life saving efforts of Christ. Yet who better to direct our love and adoration to besides ourselves, and others, as including things? If God exists, the greatest evil of all is to reject Him by substituting His glorious person with a superficial counterfeit. To not love the superior God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind is to prostitute yourself to an inferior object or person as including false ideologies and philosophies as putting yourself over God whose name is above all names which is treacherously treasonous and speaking from a human point of view becomes far worse than denying those loving arms of the very mother who birthed you.
God is a crutch
Lastly to keep from contributing to the problem of evil, the Lord restrains mankind from taking personal action with a vendetta of vengeance as this is the Lord’s responsibility, not ours, which will inevitably bring about the wrath of His righteous judgement, Romans 12:14-21.
The bible also speaks out about wrongfully judging others in regards to being unfair, Matthew 7:1-5.
In some respects it is fair to judge as to wisely discern matters or people and administer godly discipline in the Church, Mt 7:15-20, Mt 10:16, Mt 18:15-20, 1 Corinthians 5.
This would also include judging others in respect to upholding moral and civil laws as keeping the laws of the land in which the rulers justly bear the sword as ministers or agents of God’s judgment, Romans 13:1-7. So in some ways to passively permit evil is to promote it, as an accomplice to its guilt, especially as it affects the welfare of others as disregarding the value of humanity who are made in the image of God.
Anyway unlike the world the bible commands that our attitude and actions need to correspond to the Kingdom of God as resisting evil by loving others. Jesus says that hatred against mankind is analogous to the spirit of murder, 1 John 3:15, Matthew 5:21-22. Furthermore, we are told to overcome evil with good as even loving our enemies, turning the other cheek, going the extra mile, giving to others who have stolen from us, blessing and praying for our adversaries as children emulating the holy nature of our heavenly Father. Also we are told to be at peace with all men in as much as it is depends upon us and to pursue reconciliation, if possible, as even preceding our worship of God which could otherwise be a hindrance. A loving forgiveness towards others is prevalent in the Lord’s prayer and without it we remain unforgiven as hypocrites who also depend on the very work of Christ who died that we might be forgiven and reconciled unto God, Mt 5:23-24, 38-48, 6:12-15, 1 Peter 3:6-7.
You might be thinking that it is always necessary for the offender to approach the offended before favorably extending the scepter of forgiveness to them but that is overruled by the King of Kings which regards forgiveness and reconciliation as more important to the Kingdom than saving face, Mt 18:15-20. Even though this scripture may apply more specifically to how relatives are supposed to relate according to the rules of the household of faith this also pertains to how believers are to treat strangers outside the church, who may even be regarded as enemies, which God, through a general grace, blesses such evil and unrighteous people as in Matthew 5:43-48 with the intention that His kindness will lead them to repentance; adopting them as His children, Romans 2:4 or according to his right alone, bring about His righteous judgment, 1 Corinthians 5 :12-13, Romans 1:21.
In addition to this sometimes we act as if everyone should forgive us but are often stubbornly unwilling to extend forgiveness to others. When I think about the life of Christ I essentially see the blood of Jesus on all our sinful hands as responsible for His sinless death. Yet remarkably, even though we had been separated from God as His enemies, we are now graciously reconciled unto Him even though we have essentially killed Jesus.
Moreover, we often underestimate or trivialize our own sin by washing our hands in innocence while faulting others as focusing on their sin to the point of being blinded to our own. We often measure our debt of sin as chump change while we look at others as if it were millions and as a reality check, though still an underestimation, our liability to God looks more like the national debt which could never be paid, Mt 7:1-5, 18:21-35.
You may be thinking that this is impossible, and without the help of God, like salvation, I would have to agree. However it is a day-to-day reality in the Spirit filled man whose nature is by grace supernaturally enabled as lived out according to the fruit of the Spirit as opposed to the flesh, Galatians 5:16-26
I see examples of this within Christendom with wonderful stories of forgiveness and reconciliation such as in the film “Beyond the Gates of Splendor” and the recent movie “Unbroken”. I am also reminded of an article in a newsletter that was published by Voice of the Martyrs about some Africans who forgave their Muslim assailants for amputating their bodies, and even though their flesh was mutilated, their spirit was not.
Moreover, I have never heard of a Christian that has truly forgiven like this ever renege as saying that it was a bad decision but rather what they might tell you is that prior to this it was wrong for them to begrudge the situation which was controlling, strangling, and destroying their life and the life of others with a persona of the living dead that reeked with a stench of putrefaction the likes of which others would avoid.
Anyway, the biblical worldview is a radical departure from society and religion, both then and now. It flies in the face of self-preservation by putting God and others before oneself, in as much as the last will be first and the first last, to lose ones life; is to save it, and to consider others before yourself. Your mind might rebel against such ideas as this is so unlike pop culture but if it sounds that foreign to you then perhaps you aren’t really familiar with the God of the Bible, Luke 9:23-26, Mark 10:35-45, Philippians 2:3-11.
In closing I am not making light of sin or evil by merely excusing it through forgiveness in that it is still wrong or evil and may even require certain limitations but what it doesn’t have to do is ultimately define your life as either the perpetrator or victim who are both in need of Savior.
Finally, I hope you have gained a new or different perspective to the nature of evil as personally combatting it, not by attacking God or others, but rather as allying yourself with Him so as to overcome it, John 16:33.
Peace and Harmony with God
Mt: 11:28-30
28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
How to know God
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®)
Copyright © 2001 by Crossway,
a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
All rights reserved.
ESV Text Edition: 2007
1 Handbook of Christian Apologetics, Peter Kreeft & Ronald K. Tacelli, InterVarsity Press, P.O. Box 1400, Downers Grove, IL 60515-1426, www.ivpress.com, email2ivpress.com, pg. 127