Evil Archives - Life Hope https://lifehope.blog/category/evil/ Life Hope Tue, 28 Sep 2021 04:55:54 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.2 195989472 Why is there evil? Where does it come from? https://lifehope.blog/why-is-there-evil-what-is-the-origin-of-evil/ https://lifehope.blog/why-is-there-evil-what-is-the-origin-of-evil/#respond Sat, 11 Sep 2021 06:48:23 +0000 https://lifehope.blog/?p=602 The post Why is there evil? Where does it come from? appeared first on Life Hope.

]]>

Evil can be thought of as the absence of good. Another way to think of it is as the opposite of good. Some may say “bad karma”.

An evolutionary worldview

Evil would be fully expected in an evolutionary worldview, based on “survival of the fittest”, and “dog eat dog”, for each to get ahead individually. It would just depend on whether you were the ‘eater’ or the ‘eaten’.

However, based on a worldview with God as the law maker of what is truth and what is right, the definer of good and evil, then it all depends on the choices that we make. God has given us free choice, because he loves us, the people he has created.

“I love you”

In fact, we have to realise that in a world without choices, the true meaning of “I love you” would be lost. The ability to love others is void and meaningless without the power to choose. God wanted us to experience the reality of choosing to love him. Along with that gift, God knew the great risk was the possibility of evil. Our responsibility to act on that possibility rests with us, not God.

The hidden evil – “the prince of this world”

There is also Satan, one of the leading powerful angels created by God. Angels, as well as people, were given free choice by God. Satan chose to rebel against his creator, and led a rebellion with about a third of the lesser powerful angels. 

God banished them out of his immediate presence, and they came to earth. Satan leads them in inciting and aiding people in rebelling with them against God. It is very interesting that Jesus called Satan, “the prince of this world”.

We can be the source of evil, along with Satan and ‘demons’. 

When asked about something similar, Jesus said,

“What comes out of a person is what defiles them. [21] For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, [22] adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. [23] All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”

Mark 7:20 (NIV) (http://www.laridian.com)

We can choose to love and obey God, living to please him. Or we can choose to rebel, and live to please ourselves. God loves us enough to not force us to love him.

However, later, God will be God, and we won’t be. Now we can choose how to live, but then we won’t be able to choose the consequences. That’s when both justice and judgement will be displayed, and evil will finally be dealt with…

What do you think?

The post Why is there evil? Where does it come from? appeared first on Life Hope.

]]> https://lifehope.blog/why-is-there-evil-what-is-the-origin-of-evil/feed/ 0 602 Which big questions of life do we try so hard to avoid and ignore? https://lifehope.blog/which-big-questions-of-life-do-we-try-so-hard-to-avoid-and-ignore/ https://lifehope.blog/which-big-questions-of-life-do-we-try-so-hard-to-avoid-and-ignore/#respond Tue, 31 Aug 2021 05:21:59 +0000 https://lifehope.blog/?p=414 Big questions in life we try hard to avoid or ignore. Like death, life after death, judgement, justice, God, and the like.

The post Which big questions of life do we try so hard to avoid and ignore? appeared first on Life Hope.

]]>
Photo by Pablo Heimplatz on Unsplash

The Big Questions? 

Different for everyone I suspect.

Maybe we have some respectable questions that we allow ourselves to mention to others.

And then some we keep nicely hidden and secret for just ourselves to wrestle with and worry about. Maybe that’s because if we admit to having them, and also having them very unanswered, then we would so easily expose our weakness and vulnerability.

However, wouldn’t it be good to get realistic answers, that in the long run, will prove to not let us down, but be truly true?

What are those hidden ones for you?

Try these 

1. Where have we come from?

2. Why am I here?

3. How should I live?

4. What will happen to me after I die?

The post Which big questions of life do we try so hard to avoid and ignore? appeared first on Life Hope.

]]> https://lifehope.blog/which-big-questions-of-life-do-we-try-so-hard-to-avoid-and-ignore/feed/ 0 414