8.3 - Love takes evil seriously

Scripture Reading: Psalm 10:12-18

Reflection: You want God to be loving, but what does love require when something evil happens? When someone is abused, someone is killed, or someone destroys another person’s life, something inside you cries out for justice. You know instinctively that love cannot shrug and say, “It doesn’t matter.” That creates an uncomfortable tension. You may struggle with a God who judges evil, but you would also struggle with a God who never does. Scripture presents God’s judgment not as the opposite of His love, but as evidence that what He created matters to Him. People matter. What we do to one another matters. Evil matters. God loves too deeply to remain indifferent toward the things that destroy His creation. That does not answer every question about judgment, but it may change the way you ask them. Perhaps the question is not why love judges, but whether love could exist without justice.

Application Question: How does thinking about the people harmed by evil change the way you think about God’s judgment of evil?