• Mamta Subba
• Life

The Good in Us

What a ludicrous place this world has become!
It tells people to love others, treat people with kindness, not to hate, be gentle, be good, etc., painting itself in self-righteousness.

How can the world say Hitler was evil and Mother Teresa was good? How can the world say murder or adultery is wrong but honoring one’s parents is good? Where does the world get its reference from? What is the reference point? Who is the reference point? How does the world know how to love when it rejects the very existence of a supernatural being filled with love and compassion? Perhaps, it could be because kindness, goodness, and love are in our nature?

I believe we humans do have some concepts of love and morality. We do know them in our hearts. We all know how to love our families and friends and we do know misconduct like stealing, lying, and killing are wrong. We know them instinctively for we are made in the image of God. We were designed to reflect God’s nature, we were designed to reflect His authority, His love, His morality, and His virtues.  Romans 2:14-15 establishes this: “(Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature the things required by the law, they are a law unto themselves, even though they do not have the law since they show the requirements of the law are written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.)”

No concept of love and morality makes sense without a reference point. So where do we find someone or even something that teaches us what is good? What and where is the origin of love, morality, and good values? Yes, different world views and religions do teach us right from wrong. There are so many philosophical concepts that teach morality and ethics, but they say nothing about the source or origin of these ideas. They have a blank page under their references. Only the Christian view depicts a God with the perfect likeness of what the world considers good. Only God’s love is good, only His justice is good, and only He perfectly knows the sacredness and uniqueness of our individual lives. We love because God loves. We know right from wrong because He made it known to us by writing it in our hearts.

Again, one might argue that humans do all kinds of evil works as well. Could we say we got that from God too? Will it be right to say that? May it never be! From the beginning to its end, the Bible has never shown God as a tyrant dictator acting arbitrarily or without a purpose. The Bible shows God as a loving Creator who sacrificed Himself to give His creation glory that is greater than the former. He is a King who became a savior for His wretched subjects. He is the Almighty One, the only One powerful enough to create a universe this big out of nothing, the one who holds everything in order, who needs nothing, and whose greatness our finite minds can not even begin to fathom. Yet,  He delights to call Himself our Abba Father. He is the God of the second chance, defender of the weak and the fatherless, helper of the widow, a fierce protector of His children, and even watches over strangers. He is an impartial Judge, slow to anger, forgiver of repentant sinners, and patient waiting until sin reaches its full measure before executing judgment. He is the Holy One whose love and mercies are tender. He is the God who could easily overpower us yet has given us free will. Even though the world argues about the deity of Christ, everyone agrees that Jesus was virtuous and had blameless character. And every page in the Bible shows God in a morally just light. Therefore, how could some form of evil come out of the God described in the Bible? It simply cannot.

Let the goodness that is in us, of which God is the author, flow out of our lives like an everlasting river refreshing every thirsty soul.