21 “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
2 Corinthians 5: 21 NIV
6min read
I’ve been asked by people I love ‘Why do bad things happen to good people?’ And it’s a hard question to answer. It’s deep, it’s sensitive, it’s valid. It’s something I myself have battled with throughout my late teens, 20’s and early 30’s. It’s hard to see people around you suffering. People struggling. People battling with illness and disease. People who I would say are good by definition of the world’s standards.
I use to believe that being a good person was eating ethically, being a vegetarian, caring for animals and being part of animal welfare groups, being accepting of all people’s truths. Being mindful of climate change and being pro environmentalist. Showing that I cared for those around me, supporting campaigns and organisations that helped the needy. All these things were ways for me to prove to myself that I was a good person. But is it enough?
When we believe we are enough in our own means, we deceive ourselves in believing we are good because of our own actions, and we feel justified in them. But why does it leave a feeling of emptiness? Why does it leave you feeling like you need to find the next thing that makes you feel good?
God’s standard of good is different, and I believe it is against what the world teaches us. For the believer, the Ten Commandments are a benchmark of what God sees as fruitful in the lives of His children. But a lot of the time people want to have a little bit of what Christianity teaches- respect, good manners, honesty, trust, but don’t want to have the rest……faithfulness in marriage, abstaining from sex outside marriage, speaking truth even when it doesn’t feel nice, holding on to unforgiveness, fully surrendering to God.
They want to believe they are good, but only by their own standard. How can anything be good, if everyone believes in their own measure of what is good. There has to be one benchmark of who calls out what is good, and what is not good. Or everyone’s truth about what is good, is not truth. It is just an opinion. An opinion that we deceive ourselves with. There is no truth in that.
If I am driving down a road and the speed limit says 60kmh, but I want to drive 70kmh. Do I have the right to be angry with the police officer if he pulls me over and tells me I am speeding? Can I justify myself by saying, but my truth says the speed limit is 70kmh. The law sets the speed limit for our own safety. Can I change the truth to suit myself, so I can justify my bad behaviour? No! The speed limit is 60kmh, I cannot change that to say, this is my truth.
This is same as our God, He sets the rules. He tells us how to find freedom and eternity in His word. Not to punish us, but to keep us surrounded by His hedge of safety and protection. Anything outside of His hand of protection is against Him, and He willingly pulls His hand away. He is not a God of control, but a God of free will. He loves us so much He does not force us against our own will.
35 For those who find me find life
and receive favor from the Lord.
36 But those who fail to find me harm themselves;
all who hate me love death.”
Proverbs 8: 35-36 NIV
We are all filthy rags in the presence of a Holy God. He sets the standard of what is good. No body is good, because we all sin. Whether it is a pen we stole from work, whether it is a white lie we told our friend, whether it is murder or adultery, or gossip. Whether it is allowing lustful thought to entertain our minds.
6 “All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,
and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
7 No one calls on your name
or strives to lay hold of you;
for you have hidden your face from us
and have given us over to our sins.”
Isaiah 64: 6-7 NIV
I fall over and over again. I stuff up, I deceive myself, I lie, I think negatively about others and greatly about myself. I compare, I sulk, I have pride in my heart, I talk down to my husband, I get angry with my daughter. I think much of myself, and little of others. Complaining and whinging. That is sin in the eyes of a holy God. So how can we say we are good when we do these things? The view of what is good is skewed, so we can find justification in our actions. But people call me good. A good wife, a good mother, a good person. It’s nice to hear but is it the truth?
Sin is sin in the eyes of God. All sin is hated by God the Father. He knows we are all broken people in a broken world, and that’s why He sent us a saviour. Jesus came to earth so we could have life, and life abundantly. Not to be perfect. Not to be self validated in our own actions and thinking, but so we could be washed clean of our filth and stand before a Holy God, as white as snow. He is the only one who makes us good. And in my weakness I rejoice, because I am made strong through Jesus. As a believer, my benchmark of good is God. He is my standard.
12 “As far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”
Psalm 103: 12 NIV
So humble yourselves, get down on your knees. Ask for forgiveness. There is no sin too great for God to wash clean. There is no brokenness too large that cannot be restored. Praise the LORD for His love for us. It endures forever and ever.
12 “For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.”
Hebrews 8: 12 NIV
Nadia x
All for His Glory.