The Solution To Evil

Every 22.2 seconds - One violent crime occurs

Every 30.9 minutes - One murder occurs

Every 5.7 minutes - One forcible rape occurs
Every 1.2 minutes - One robbery occurs

Every 36.6 seconds - One aggravated assault occurs

Every 3.2 seconds - One property crime occurs
Every 14.4 seconds - One burglary occurs
Every 4.8 seconds - One larceny-theft occurs

Every 26.4 seconds - One motor vehicle theft occurs

2009 stats from FBI crime clock

This world is damaged. There is no debate about that. It is one thing we can all agree on, regardless of age, sex, race, beliefs, etc. In this entry, I don't want to address in detail the various psychological and physiological phenomenon that can motivate humans to commit crime. Let's consider the forest amongst the trees by asking a more general, yet deeper question: Why do we have the concepts of good and evil? 

It certainly isn't because our nomadic hunting and gathering ancestors have evolved with this knowledge, having left the womb of their monkey mothers as humans with staggering intelligence. The evidence just doesn't back up that claim. (It's important to note here that a strong belief in something that is not entirely proven by human means is faith, a word that many evolutionists and atheists disavow.) Ultimately, no one can prove the origins of good and evil without looking at the human heart and it's connection to God. Only then do we truly begin to answer the question as to why we have cognizance of good and evil. We should then assume the responsibilities that come with that knowledge.

The Bible tells us about the origins of evil, or sin. To those who don't know what the Bible says about evil, start by reading the Gospel of John. To those who know what the Bible says about evil but do not believe it, I challenge you to take an inventory of your own beliefs and analyze them. Do likewise with the beliefs presented in the Bible.

In the human experience, evil began with a decision to disobey Gods' command. We wanted to be like God by knowing good and evil, though we were told that it was forbidden. Instead of trusting in God, we let ourselves be deceived by words that were untrue and against His command. Ever since then we have been torn between good and evil, at times blurring the dividing line between the two in our minds. Sin starts with a thought, and so much suffering follows because of a simple decision to give in and act on it. Every action is preceded by a thought and a decision. To anyone who believes it's ok to have any thoughts or fantasies one desires, I would say you are on a slippery slope, and you need to consider the consequences that can follow.

It's a given that one of the most important and reliable assets you have is your mind. That said, we understand that the material things we enjoy in this life all have a limited value. Truly, the most important things in this life are unseen. Love isn't necessarily tangible, but we believe in it and acknowledge it as a positive force that's intrinsic to human life. To take that a step further, God is the embodiment of love. He is the infinite Creator who is perfect, who loves us so much that He did what no one else could do. He provided a solution to evil.

God came to us as Jesus Christ to be the solution to evil once and for all. He suffered death for our sins and rose to life to give us life, which is a gift, but we can only receive it through faith. Not just head knowledge, but a belief in your heart that sin is a problem you need to turn from, that Christ has forgiven you by paying your sin debt with His own life, and that He rose from death to provide you eternal life with God. 

Faith in Christs' forgiveness doesn't remove sin from the human experience, but it does save us from a spiritual death that is much worse. As long as we have breath there will be sin that we will have to deal with internally and externally. If we don't step back and see the forest amongst the trees, we will be lost and miss the only way out.