Psychology Today defines insanity as “mental illness of such a severe nature that a person cannot distinguish fantasy from reality, cannot conduct her/his affairs due to psychosis, or is subject to uncontrollable impulsive behavior”.   That is a horrible condition for a person to live with.  It is truly a sad situation.  There is hope, of course.  With therapy and medication, a host of mental illnesses can be managed, and people can lead productive lives. As a society we are becoming more aware of such problems and for the most part see them and feel compassion and understanding.

 

                Some mental illnesses can lead to wicked and destructive actions, no doubt.  But the law rightfully says that sane people can and will do horrible things.  In fact, I’ve read that an “insanity defense” rarely succeeds in cases of violence and mayhem.  Courts rule that the person who committed the particular act was sane.

 

                So why would a sane person murder, rob, rape, and commit other acts of violence?  I believe that courts of law, by stating that sane people can do horrible things, have endorsed the concept of EVIL.  When used as an adjective the word evil describes a person who does bad things.  But many dictionaries define the word evil as a noun that is “a cosmic evil force” and “something that brings sorrow, distress, and calamity”.  I do not understand how anyone, looking at the world today, can say that a cosmic evil doesn’t exist.

 

                Unlike a mental illness, evil can’t be controlled or cured by any medicine.  No doctor can prescribe a pill designed to treat evil. There is only one thing that can eradicate evil and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. Because evil is a “force” of unexplainable origin, power, or cause only an equal force of supernatural power can conquer it:  Jesus is that power. I know people personally who will tell you that they were once evil, but Jesus changed their very nature.  I’ve heard people describe how He changed their heart from one of evil to a heart of love.  There are countless criminals who will gladly share that the only reason they were able to shed a heart of intense anger and hate and escape a life of continued evil is that Jesus saved them and made them a new person.

 

                 Laws cannot change evil, but Jesus can.  Continue to lift Him up as the sole Savior of a fallen people and, as always….

 

Say good things about your Savior and His Church on the Bluff.