All a person's ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the LORD. – Proverbs 16:2

Today's Scripture Reading (November 13, 2022): Proverbs 16

One of the great, unanswerable questions is, "why does evil exist?" Why was there an Adolf Hitler to terrorize Europe in the middle years of the 20^th century? Or a War to end all Wars that took place in the years that preceded Hitler? Why would God allow a Rwandan Genocide in the later years of that century? Or, more recently, why would Vladimir Putin invade Ukraine, intending to make that country part of a new Russian Empire? Weren't these wars of aggression something we have left behind in our collective histories?

They are good questions, and while I said they are unanswerable, they really aren't. There is an answer; we just don't like that answer to these great questions. In a culture where we are taught that right and wrong belong to us, not to some societal moral understanding, we have set out the recipe for each disaster. The truth is that while Adolf Hitler's actions were abhorrent to us, they weren't to him; Hitler did precisely what he thought was right. He believed that his actions were necessary to liberate a Germany that had been financially handicapped since the end of the First World War. This was the path to a free Germany, and because of that goal, many good, upstanding Germans ignored the growing evil of their leader.

Vladimir Putin believes that Ukraine is historically a part of Russia. And not only does he believe it, but he has been telling us what he believes this about Ukraine for over a decade. We just haven't been paying attention or taking him seriously.

Solomon argues that everything we do seems pure and correct to us. That is true in major disagreements between nations and minor squabbles between friends. But we must be willing to understand that what we believe is right might not be. And that caution should be the guiding light for our decisions and beliefs. I do not think that truth or right and wrong belongs to me. It is God who gets the final say.

We are great at the practice of self-deception. We can make ourselves believe that our actions are the only course of action possible and that they are the moral choice. But with great humility, we need to be reminded that God has the final say and let him speak into our actions.

Recently, something has become apparent to me. Jesus taught that we should

'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments (Matthew 22:37-40).

If all the Law and the Prophets' warnings hang on love, then the root of every sin must be a sin against or a lack of love. I know that doesn't sound earthshattering, but maybe, the path to understanding our motives the way God sees them is to ask this question; "Who is being harmed by this action? How can I show love even here?" The answer to that question might be the one God wants us to ask as we consider all of the actions we decide to undertake and the morality or lack thereof of each of our beliefs.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Proverbs 17