The Heartache of Striving for Acceptence

Bob's parents went out of town for a few days and trusted Bob to care for the house while they were away. Bob in desperation to feed his addiction broke into his fathers coin collection sold it and pocketed the money.Bob reported to the police that when he came home from a date he had found the house broken into and the coin collection gone. All the clues pointed to the fact that Bob had been the real thief. After seeing that the evidence was stacked against him, Bob confessed to the police, and to his parents what he had done. Bob's parents were unaware that he was an addict and were undone by this revelation, for they had always tried to be good parents. Bob being under age at the time underwent drug rehab and eventually overcame his addiction. Bob's parents were heartbroken not because of the loss of the coin collection, but over the loss of their son's trust and the self-destructive path he was following. The father did all he could to reconcile his lost son back to him. Bob truly broke down in repentance and sorrow for the hurt and anguish that he had caused his parents. Though Bob's father and mother had completely forgiven their son, he could not grasp the fact that they could forgive him. Bob was continually striving to win back his parents approval by becoming the best student, athlete, and obedient son that parents could ever ask for. Bob never returned to the fun outgoing happy person of his childhood but seemed always focused on excellence in every area of his life to the point of obsession. Other parents used to compliment Bob's parents on raising such an outstanding student and excellent citizen, and athlete. They would declare "if only my kid could be more like your Bob and less like the irresponsible teenager that he is". The problem was that Bob's parents would do anything to see their son a little less perfect and allot more relaxed. They new that no matter how many times they had let Bob know how much they loved him and that they had forgiven the past, Bob was incapable of receiving it. This inability to receive their forgiveness and love caused them to cry many tears together and to look for new ways that might help him to embrace from the heart their forgiveness and love. Bob put himself through needless pain in striving to win his parents love and approval because it had already been given to him, he just needed to receive it. Many believers in Jesus could spare themselves hours and days of needless pain if they would quit their endless striving to win God's forgiveness,approval, and love. A life lived in moral perfection and obedience in order to gain God's love and approval will only grieve God's heart as it did the parents of Bob. There is a wall of separation placed between you and God. This wall has been erected not by God but by your unwillingness to embrace with your heart the love and forgiveness that God already has for you. God has received, forgiven and adopted you as His children, all of you who believe in Christ's life, death, and resurrection for your sins. Relax and enjoy God and life. You are God's kids, and God takes great pleasure in seeing His kids delight in Him and the life that He has given. (Romans 8:15) "So you have not received a spirit of fear that makes you fearful slaves. Instead you received God's Spirit when He adopted you as His own children. Now we call Him, Abba, Father."

God loves all that is good

God's laws and the just judgments decreed upon lawbreakers reflect the very character of who God is to us. God's anger against evil and love for all that is just and pure is a spotlight that reveals the very character and nature of God to humanity. The law of God and the outpouring of God' righteous wrath upon law breakers is seen by many as unloving, but can you imagine what a God would be like whose nature was not to oppose evil but to reward it. God's anger and punishment of evil is an outward manifestation of the inward nature of God's love for all that is pure, just, and good. To do away with God's righteous anger and punishment of sin would be to do away with God's all consuming love for purity, justice, and holiness. God is a person with likes and dislikes not an impersonal force. Therefore the very opposite reaction of one who loves righteousness will be to abhor evil and to be angered by it. Packer says in his book Knowing God,

"Would a God who did not react adversely to evil in this world be morally perfect? Surly not! But it is precisely this adverse reaction to evil, which is a necessary part of moral perfection, which the Bible has in view when it speaks of God's wrath" (151).

 

The bible most clearly portrays that God is actively involved in punishing sinners and that our sin is what separates us from God. Therefore everyday when we see violence, broken relationships, and death we are beholding the consequence of humanity living under the judgment of God's curse upon a self-worshiping and self-centered world. The good news though is that is not the end of our story. The Bible says, "The wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom 6:23).

Is God Evil?

I have a good friend who is convinced that there is no God because of all the atrocities that have taken place today and throughout history in the name of God. My friend is convinced that the world would be a better place with less war if there were no religious beliefs. He was raised in a part of the world where he saw religion used as a means of gaining power over the masses for their own evil gain. I was watching a televangelist not long ago that by the end of his sermon he had both old, middle aged, and kids running up to the altar throwing money at his feet. Of course he was purporting that God wants all people to be rich and if you give to his ministries God would then fulfill their greedy desires by making them wealthy. Then there are those who look at God as if He is a lucky rabbits foot and will always deliver them out of all their problems. There is little love for God or neighbor in these differing scenarios.

Can you imagine how angry and upset you would be if people were to rape, kill, and destroy, then claimed that you were the one who told them to commit these atrocities. Would you be upset if people used your good name to promote their greed, by appealing to the greed in others? There will be a day when all of us will have to give an account before God on what we did with this life. There is nothing that proves with more clarity that human beings are lost and sinful than the fact that they use the good name of God as an excuse to commit the most despicable of crimes. The Bible declares in (Romans 3:10) “just as it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one, 3:11 there is no one who understands, there is no one who seeks God. 3:12 All have turned away. God is good, holy, and pure, and we have all misrepresented God in some way. We were created in the image of God to reflect His beauty and goodness, but the reflection people see in us many times is one of self-centeredness and self worship. The fact that people commit horrible acts in the name of God says nothing bad about God, but it speaks volumes about the character of people. The Bible says “God is still true though every man be a liar” ( Rom 3:4).