Evil

If God is good, why does he let people do evil things? Why does a loving God allow injustice in the world?

Genesis 2:15-17 - "The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, 'You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.' "

Genuine love requires the freedom of choice. From the beginning, God wanted to have a loving relationship with humans so he gave them this freedom. But with the ability to make choices comes the possibility that people would choose their own way over God's way, which always leads to sin because all people are born with a sinful nature.

This breaks God's heart, but the alternative would have been to create production line style humans who did not choose to love God on their own. This state of affairs will end on the final Judgement Day. On that day, the people who chose to love God and accept what his Son did for them, even though they have all sinned, will be taken into heaven because they showed during their lives that they wanted to love with him and love him for eternity.

Psalm 73:17-19 - "till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny. Surely you can place them on slippery ground; you cast them down to ruin. How suddenly are they destroyed, completely swept away by terrors!"

Sometimes it seems that evil people can do anything they want and not only get away with it but flourish. God has promised however, that one day everyone will be judged, evil will be exposed and the righteous will prevail. If righteousness always prevailed on earth, then people would not be following Christ for the right reasons. They would only follow God to have an easy life.

God never promised that there would be no evil on earth. But he does warn that evil will be pervasive and powerful. However, God promises to help you fight against evil, and if you do, you will receive your reward of eternal life with Him in heaven where evil does not exist.

Ephesians 6:10-11 - "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on your full armour of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes."

Ephesians 6:16 - "In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one."

1 John 5:4 - Every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith."

Your first line of defence in fighting evil is to draw strength from the fact that God is more powerful than your problems and your enemies. Your faith in God is like a shield that protects you from the temptations and criticisms hurled at you every day. Within strong faith, the weapons of the devil and the arrows shot at you by your enemies would pierce and defeat you. Use your faith as a shield and you will withstand the dangers and discouragements you face. Finally, rejoice! God has already won the victory.

1 Corinthians 10:12-13 - "So if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."

Stop giving into temptation. God's Word makes it clear that sin always hurts you because it separates you from God and puts you in the clutches of the devil. God has promised to give you strength to resist temptation if you ask. Surrender yourself to Christ's control. The closer you walk with Christ, the harder it is to be caught in the devil's trap. Do your best to avoid situations where you know your resolve for righteousness will be tested.