The Nature of Evil

EVER WONDER what keeps our world from falling into worse crime and total corruption of our human system? Do you ever stop to realize the psychological truth that evil by its very nature is separatist; it conquers by separating and dividing? On the other hand, goodness by its “very goodness” is unifying, creative and full of life.

Consider this: evil, by its evil nature separates itself both from the good and from other evil as well. Thieves sooner or later fall out from each other. That is the essence of their character. The self-centeredness of their core being--what is antisocial in them at the beginning--later turns into anti-others.

The Hitler’s and Stalin’s of history could not maintain nonaggression agreements for long. Tyrants often end up being assassinated by their own lieutenants whose evil aggressions can be neither trusted nor tolerated. By its very nature, evil is self-defeating.

In the darkest days of Germany’s war with the world, Dietrich Bonhoeffer found light and personal redemption in the regenerating power of love, which he discovered was the essence of that Almighty God that so loved the world (John 3:16). Bonhoeffer found unmistakable hope, even when hanging at the end of Hitler’s noose at age 39. Bonhoeffer; lived and died in that hope, a symbol of victory while Hitler slowly crumbled in abysmal defeat.

That global struggle continues today, between nations, between the repressed and the oppressors, between the lawful and the illegal. Repressed and suffering people lift up hands of hope--even picking up weapons of rebellion. The world looks ominous and threatening as political powers tighten their evil grip--politically, economically, even religiously.

At times global peace seems almost impossible and it appears there is nothing to cling to. None the less, good people can take hope in remembering that evil by its very nature is a self-destructing parasite. As the Christian Apostle described it, we see in the mirror now only partially, with distortion; we have only partial knowledge. In the creativity of God's goodness, there is faith and hope and ultimately love, but the greatest, most long lasting, and most filled with life is the love of God.

It is love, then, that you should strive for, concluded Paul (I Cor. 14:1 TEV).
From Warner’s World, I am walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com