Shortly after I completed writing this comic, I heard the news of a terrible shooting in Texas. It was heartbreaking, innocent children's lives were lost. It begged the question, how in the world can a human being commit such an atrocity...? (Please pray for all who are affected and help however way you can!)
The whole premise of this comic is the fact that everyone has issues deep inside their hearts that they either ignore, embrace, hide, or grieve over (and be reminded, I'm not talking about issues such as mental health or subjective traits such as beauty, rather, I'm talking about issues that are, for lack of better word, evil). According to the articles I've read, the 18-year-old shooter in this particular shooting endured terrible bullying in his childhood due to his speech impairment. It is very possible that the pain and hatred that he harbored in his heart (and endured from others) would have had a massive impact on why he chose to commit this terrible crime. Even then, I find it extremely difficult to even begin to try to empathize with this shooter, taking the lives of little children is something I absolutely cannot rationalize. It is a great moral evil, one that should never be overlooked.
We look at stories like this and speculate how things went wrong. Many begin to get political and point fingers at the policies of their political opponents. Don't get me wrong, I think political policies and laws/regulations are extremely important for civil and moral societies, so these discussions need to be had. However, those are frontline battles, there is a deeper war that is being waged that is at the root of all of humanity's issues: the war within people's hearts.
You and I would say "goodness, I will NEVER commit a crime like THAT!", and good chances are, we won't, but here's the kicker: We all harbor the origin of every moral evil. We harbor sin in our hearts. James 1:15 tells us that desires will eventually bring forth sin, and when sin is allowed to grow in its fullness, it brings forth death. A violent criminal and the common man all begin at the same place. The criminal takes things way farther than the common man, but the potential exists in both their hearts. We rightfully blame the criminal far more than your average Joe, but that doesn't mean the average Joe become completely innocent in the eyes of God.
We wonder why the world has become such a messed-up place. We conclude it's because of the actions of certain people. Is that a form of judgment? I think so. What did our Lord tell us about judging? Before we judge another person, we should first judge our own hearts to see if we ourselves are completely innocent (Matthew 7:1-5). Well, the Bible is clear that no one is innocent, and everyone has problems deep within their hearts that will lead to death (eternal punishment, according to God's judgment!). Sure, your actions are probably way better than a violent criminal, and we can say the same about the vast majority of the world. However, to God, the ultimate judge, EVERYONE in the world has some SERIOUS issues in their hearts! And the collective sins of humanity is... a lot, you can imagine how that might make the world...pretty messed up (human history attests to this).
Praise God that He provides a solution that can strike at the root. Jesus Christ takes away all sins (1 John 1:9). Jesus Christ takes humanity's collective sins and their deserved punishments and bore it all on the Cross. Every war, every killing, every evil deed, He felt the full force of the consequences of those actions on the cross. Without Him, where is our hope? I plead with you today, humble yourself and go to Jesus with your deepest issues. As the comic states, we must be willing to acknowledge our depravity before we can receive help. And boy, that help is AMAZING, I'm talking about eternal life in the kingdom of God where there is NO sin, NO evil, and NO death!
I look forward to that Kingdom. I also hope that many more in this current world will turn to Jesus and have Him work towards fixing their heart issues. Think about the possibilities, more people who live a life trying to love their neighbors and even their enemies instead of trying to hurt them. Fewer people treating each other like garbage because we will all learn how to love each other as God's beautiful creation. If that is too crazy of a dream...well... come, Lord Jesus, Come!
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