It is said in the Bible that God made human beings in His own image - to be like Him and to resemble Him (Genesis 1:26).
When you consider the number of evil people in the world today, you can't help but wonder whether He made a mistake. Surely if He is a caring and loving God how come there are evil men? Surely they are not made in His image?
Of course, God did not make a mistake. He created man in His image, but also, because He is loving and caring He gave man a great gift. He gave him free will to do with his life as he wishes.
The argument as to whether men are born evil or whether they become evil because of their environment and the way they have been treated has run for ever, and no doubt will continue for years to come. The fact remains that some people, no matter their deprived background and up-bringing still choose to do good in life; and the opposite scenario also applies. They choose their actions in life and suffer the consequences.
God made man to be good just like Himself. Man chose evil. That's what is called sin.
I know more than my fair share of evil ones, but I also know many, many good people.
ReplyDeleteYes River, as Tom said, people make their choices in life.
DeleteGod bless.
Why were we given Free Will? Interesting question.
ReplyDeleteGood question Sandi. Here is my view on it:
DeleteWhen God created humans, (and when He created Angels), He had two choices. To pre-program His creations to follow His laws and His instructions. Can you imagine? No more badness, no more sin, no more evil. Even Satan would not have existed. God would have created a race of robots doing and living according to His will.
Hardly the act of a loving Father, as Jesus described Him. Instead, God gave us the freedom to choose. Good from bad. To love Him or not. He even allows us to turn our backs on Him and encourage others not to believe in Him. That's true freedom, and true love from our Creator.
And with our given freedom comes responsibility ... ... ...
God bless.
It's like that Sting song. If you love someone set them free.
Delete"Can you imagine? No more badness, no more sin, no more evil. Even Satan would not have existed."
I can imagine this. It sounds better than this, but...You sound right. He gave us choices and hoped we would choose Him.
Giving us the freedom to choose is one of God's greatest gifts to us. When we went wrong and sinned, He sent His Son, Jesus, to build a bridge of forgiveness and mercy between us and God.
DeleteGod bless you, Sandi.
...life is filled with choices.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Tom.
DeleteGod bless.
Free will is a tremendous gift from God, Victor. May we choose to submit our will to His that He would deliver us from evil.
ReplyDeleteBlessings!
Amen Martha. We need to trust Him to take care of us.
DeleteGod bless.
There are no mistakes in God's world.
ReplyDeleteI agree.
DeleteGod bless, Kathy.
It took me a long time to grasp the concept of free will. Thank you for continuing to challenge me to think!
ReplyDeleteLet's see it this way, Mevely. Life is made of many railway tracks. We are trains, free to run on whichever track we choose. We can go left, or right, or keep going straight on the same track. As we travel, we meet other trains and are perhaps influenced to follow their tracks.
DeleteGod is looking down at this huge train set. He leaves you free to travel whichever track and direction you want. But, being all-knowing, He knows in advance which track and direction you will choose. He knows whether people will turn out good or bad in life; but He let's them choose freely which way to go. Every so often, He might nudge some people in certain directions, (like traffic lights do, or direction signs), but He does not force you to go one way or another.
A good example of this is Paul. He was nudged by God on the way to Damascus to become one of the greatest missionaries - and He never even met Jesus personally.
God bless.
Dearest Victor,
ReplyDeleteYou completely forget the female species here... They too can be rather evil and ought to be included in all; the good and the bad.
Hugs,
Mariette
Mariette, I have never met a bad woman in all my life so far.
DeleteGod bless you.
Because they live in JAILS...
DeleteI like to think more people choose to at least TRY to be good rather than pick an OBVIOUS EVIL road to travel. I know they exist, but I have met mostly good folks rather than the EVIL ones. I know that living 'good' is not enough, but as a human I appreciate other humans who at least are honest. I have proven to be a poor 'JUDGE' in a couple cases while in business, I found the good outweighed the actual EVIL ones. Just an opinion.
ReplyDeleteSherry & jack trying to be good, or at least honest. LOL
You are right, Jack. Man is basically good. Most people want a happy life for themselves and their families. There are those, however, who for whatever reason choose evil. God does not create them evil. He gives us all the free choice to be evil, or not.
DeleteGod bless you and Sherry.
I think it is a choice we make to be good or evil. I realize that we grow up in different environments with different rules or lack thereof, but the bottom line is we are all exposed to both ends of the spectrum, therefore; we do have choices.
ReplyDeleteGod bless you, Victor.
Exactly. We all have a choice to be good or evil. God does not create evil people. He creates them with the potential to be good - in His image. Some choose otherwise.
DeleteGod bless you, Nells.
Well said, Victor! We worship an omnipotent God Who is not capable of mistake.
ReplyDeleteBlessings!
Thank you, Lulu. He made us in His image of goodness, love, forgiveness and mercy. Some choose otherwise.
DeleteGod bless you.
God makes no mistakes, but we sure do! God created us with free will so we can choose to believe He sent Jesus to save us. He did not create robots.
ReplyDeleteI agree 100%, Happyone.
DeleteGod bless.
Our wise and loving Father doesn't make mistakes, and wants sons not robots. Excellent post.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Mimi, for your kindness.
DeleteGod bless you.
No free will would be like living in a black and white world.
ReplyDeleteActually, I'm not sure what that even means. It sounded heavy when I wrote it. I guess I have the free will to write nonsense.
DeleteIt makes sense to me. I don't know why.
DeleteGod bless you, JoeH my friend.
Some of them. Mostly in journals, magazines, etc. . I need to keep up my blog better, but some of them are there too. Click on the dates on the right side. Thanks for your interest. 😊
ReplyDeleteI'll visit your Blog right away, Nells.
DeleteGod bless.
I am in agreement with Tom, life is filled with choices.
ReplyDeleteAll the best Jan
That's true.
DeleteGod bless.
Excellent post Victor! Thank you. I have to say between my parents raising me and my Catholic education from k-11 (they closed all Cathlics in my hometown) my senior year of high school. I was raised and taught about free will and making a choice. I am much older now but remember the specific priests and nuns and lay teachers who made such a difference for me and helped me understand it all as best they could.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your kind words, Tata. It's good to remember back to those who have influenced us in the Faith ... and to pray for them.
DeleteGod bless you my friend.
You may call me Tata if you wish. I kinda like that a lot! Never could get the nieces and nephews to call me that. But we have a grandson who has called us Grandmother and Grandfather since he was a small boy. His children call us that too. I was at a party once where a young man from the South came to me and said, in the SOuth calling ones grandma Grandmother is a sign of respect. It made me so happy. My favorite Tata was rose who's wedding phot is on my header. SHe was my grandmothers younger sister. They were godly women, raised in the Catholic faith. I really appreciate knowing you because you can be serious and you can be funny. Thank you for prayers. I told my neighbor this morning, Mark, I will pray that you find that perfect job as he is currently job hunting. He is not a religious man or of any faith but he sure smiled when I told him I would pray. Those little moments are big expressions of God's goodness to all of us. Thank you again and agina for your prayers. :-)
DeleteThank you so much for sharing your story, Tata. It was very good of you to tell Mark you will pray for him. When we say something like that to someone, especially if they are non-believers, we sometimes touch their very soul.
DeleteYou can tell Mark, I am praying for him too. Also for you and your family , Tata.
God bless.