My Answer
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Don’t allow evil to cloud your perception of God
Q. I don’t see how anyone can believe in God, especially in light of all the bad things that have been done in the name of religion over the centuries — wars, conflicts, oppression, hate, etc. We need to free ourselves from believing in God, because religion is evil. — H.J.
A: It’s true that religion has sometimes been used as an excuse to commit great evil — tragically, even in our own time. The Bible warned that a time would come when “evildoers and imposters will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived” (2 Timothy 3:13).
But I hope you won’t close your mind to two important truths. First, this is not the way of Jesus Christ. He came into the world to transform our lives by reconciling us to God and coming to live within us by His Holy Spirit. His way is the way of love and peace, not hate and violence. When Peter drew his sword and cut off the ear of one of the men sent to arrest Jesus, Jesus rebuked him: “Put your sword back in its place … for all who draw the sword will die by the sword” (Matthew 26:52).
Second, I hope you’ll honestly face the fact that far more evil has been done in the name of atheism and disbelief — especially in the last hundred years. On the other hand, tens of thousands of hospitals, schools and orphanages across the world owe their existence to the efforts of Christians.
I hope you’ll face honestly why you don’t want anything to do with God. I suspect the real reason is that you want to be free to run your own life. I challenge you instead to look at Jesus Christ with an open heart and mind. Your life will never be the same.
A touch of God makes humans unique and special
Q: What’s the difference between us and the rest of the animal kingdom? I don’t think there is any difference. We can do things other animals can’t, but some of them can do things we can’t. You’ll probably say only humans have a soul, but I don’t believe in it. — Z.R.
A: You’re right, up to a point; we have much in common with other living creatures. We have bodies like they do; we feel pain like they do; some of them may even feel emotions in a limited way. And like them, we’ll eventually die. As God decreed to Adam, “Dust you are and to dust you will return” (Genesis 3:19).
But we aren’t just a higher form of animal! We are unique, and the reason is because God has put something of Himself within us. Think of it: God has stamped us with Himself! This is what the Bible means when it says we were made in the image of God (see Genesis 1:27). And He put something of Himself within us because He wanted us to know Him and have a personal relationship with Him.
In other words, we aren’t simply a body and a mind — we also have a soul or spirit, which God has given us. Unlike the animals, only we can think about where we came from, and why we are here, and where we will go when we die. Most of all, only we can experience a personal relationship with God. The Bible says, “You made them a little lower than the angels; you crowned them with glory and honor” (Hebrews 2:7).
Don’t lower yourself; don’t think less of yourself than God thinks of you. Instead, open your life to Jesus Christ, and discover the joy of knowing He is with you every day.
