“31 And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.”
- Genesis 1:31
Quite generally, good and evil are both nonconcrete concepts. Most philosophies accept that both of these traits can have a dual nature. Evil can coexist with good and there can’t be anything as evil if there isn’t any good.
But from society’s point of view, these two qualities can have a solid definition. Good is generally something that is in the best interests of mankind, and anything that can harm society is considered evil. Because of this reason, understanding good and evil is something that depends clearly on one’s judgment.
Understanding Good
“7 The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him.”
- Nahum 1:7
“3 Praise the Lord; for the Lord is good: sing praises unto his name; for it is pleasant.”
- Psalm 135:3
The Bible goes the extra mile to clarify that God is the definition of goodness. Often, we can get behind this analogy because it’s easy to believe that goodness is one of the most prominent attributes of the creator of the universe.
“5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”
- 1 John 1:5
His actions may not always make sense to us, but we can trust His understanding of goodness is a lot more thorough than ours.
Understanding Evil
“13 The fear of the Lord is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.”
- Proverbs 8:13
In his book The Attributes of God, A.W Tozer puts it quite well by stating, “all things as they move toward God are beautiful, and they are ugly as they move away from Him.”
Most of us tend to think that something can only be evil if it hurts someone, when actually, evil is created when we tend to find satisfaction in an idea that is different from God. Hurting someone else is considered evil because you are directly causing pain to an entity that was created by God, which means you’re devaluing something or someone God created.
God doesn’t like evil and it’s an offense against His Holy and perfect character. Deciding to commit evil is seeing God in all his might and then deciding that someone or something else is better. That’s how the first sin was committed too. Adam and Eve understood God and the importance of his word, but chose to enjoy the fruit anyway. Evil is any thought or action that gives anything else importance over God.
Wrapping Up
Understanding good and evil can be complex for several people who have spent enough time away from God and the Bible. To get a better understanding of how good and evil impact our lives, contact Doctor Andrew Knight – a pastor and a speaker with over 30 years of experience. Call him today on 877 411 5300.