At a friend's recommendation, I just watched the first season of the Castlevania series on Netflix. In this show, one character is confronted with the consequences of his actions and is told that, because of his repulsive actions and those actions' disastrous results, God no longer loves him.
This is, according to my beliefs, impossible. God loves all His children unconditionally, even those that rebel against Him, hurt His children, defile His name, and invite evil into the world. I'm sure that He still loves even the devil and the other fallen angels, even if they no longer feel His love. Anyone can distance themselves from the love of God, but God does not cease to love them.
God is saddened by our actions that hurt ourselves and others because He loves us and wants us all to be happy. He disapproves of evil deeds because they distance us from the path to true happiness. God doesn't hate us for making bad choices. We are His children. He will always love us, no matter what we do.
However, that love will not always spare us from divine punishment. There are times when God punishes His children, not because He no longer loves them, but because He hopes that that punishment will persuade us to repent. We want us to make good choices that lead to happiness, not bad choices that lead to misery. And if divine punishment might persuade us to choose happiness over misery, a certain amount of divine punishment may be necessary. In fact, it's even evidence of God's love. If He didn't care how much misery our behavior created, He wouldn't care enough to try to correct our behavior.
I am thankful for my knowledge that God's love actually is unconditional, and that He continues to love even those whom He punishes. God punishes evildoers, not because He doesn't love them, but because He does.
No comments:
Post a Comment