People of God have no doubt always been keenly aware of evil in the world.   I have talked to Christians who almost don’t want to watch or listen to news broadcasts because they simply bombard us with more examples of the immorality, greed, dishonesty and the inhuman brutality some people inflict on others who cannot defend themselves.   How can people grow to be so evil.   How can evil seem to prevail over good so often?

        There are no simple answers, but consider one aspect of the problem of evil which Jesus Himself addressed.   In Mark the seventh chapter, Jesus was criticized by the Pharisees and teachers of the law because His disciples were eating without observing the traditional ceremonial hand washing.   Jesus said that Isaiah correctly prophesied about such critics as these who "honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me.   They worship Me in vain; their teachings are but rules made by men" (Mark 7:6-7).   Jesus later explained to His disciples that "nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him ‘unclean’".   He went on to say, "What comes out of a man is what makes him ‘unclean.’   For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.   All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean’" (Mark 7:20-23).

        Man’s "heart" is his mind which he has trained to think what he thinks and have the attitudes he has.   Our mind does not act independently of our will. The one thing, the only thing, we have complete control of in this world is ourself.   We control what we think, what we do, what we say.   If we desire to be evil in our heart, God will let us, and we will think, act and speak out of our evil heart.   And this is exactly what much of the world does.   This is why there is so much evil in the world.   People like this are described by Paul in Romans 1:28, "Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, He gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done".

        But, God will allow such evil only for a certain period of time, then He will judge the world in the day He has set.   On that day Jesus, the righteous judge, will deal with all the evil in perfect judgment.

        How can we be sure that our heart is not evil?   First, there must be a desire to have a pure heart.   David wrote, "Test me, O Lord, and try me, examine my heart and my mind; for your love is ever before me, and I walk continually in Your truth" (Psalm 26:2-3).   We need God’s help to keep our heart pure.   David also wrote, "Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me" (Psalm 51:10).   Pray to God.   Ask Him to create in us a pure heart and keep it pure.   Also we need to fill our thoughts with God’s word: "The mouth of the righteous man utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks what is just.   The law of his God is in his heart; his feet do not slip" (Psalm 37:30-31).   If we desire a pure heart, if we are guided by God’s word, if we pray to Him for a pure heart, our heart will be pure.

-- Wayne Sharp