sanctity of human life

 abuse

 Nancy Cooper, Cary

 Eve Carson, Chapel Hill

Meghan Touma, Ft. Bragg

Holly Wimunc, Ft. Bragg

Brittney Willis, Wilson

Jenna Neilsen AND child, Raleigh

Abhijit Mahata, Raleigh

Nneka Wilson, Wendell

Michelle Young, Raleigh

Cynthia Moreland, Raleigh

Keith West, Smithfield

Victims of DWI’s

Virginia Tech Victims

 I am sure you will recognize some of these names. These came to mind, and unfortunately, the list is not complete. This is only a small fraction of people who have died of recent from senseless murders/crimes.

 I want to address the ones who were killed or suspectedly killed by their spouses. What makes a person feel that they have to kill their spouses to end a marriage? Does not the value of life mean anything? Last I checked, there are still divorce lawyers and ways to get a divorce, fairly cheaply. It is just unmentionable to think what these victims went through before they took their last breath. The horror in knowing their loved ones hurt them. 

 I cannot imagine the mind set where people are killed for money. Greed is a powerful thing, I realize…but to kill someone for what’s in their wallet, what they collected from a paper route, because they got caught cheating, to make a statement? Since when is $25 dollars more than the value of a human’s life?

Life is more important. So many bad decisions to get behind the wheel of a car after drinking Why do people resort to taking another human life? I am perplexed by this and shocked. 

 Why are people so evil? I have to ask myself…what is in their minds and heart that would allow someone to take the life of another? Do some of the crimes just happen in the heat of the moment? Possibly, but why would someone let it get that bad. If you do not want to be with someone, leave!!!! Doesn’t cost a thing to walk out the door. Isn’t the alternative of leaving better than taking someone’s life and ending up in prison. At least you would be free. What happens to a person that could make them do this? 

 Christianity rightly claims that each person has value and is a special creation of the Creator. Then why do people commit heinous crimes? Did God create people evil? Over the millennia many thinking people have struggled with this dilemma. There's a wonder and beauty to human life, but there is also a terrible evil that plagues mankind.When we look at what makes us different from animals, the gulf is enormous. Prairie dogs burrow, human beings construct skyscrapers. Sparrows chirp simple musical notes, human beings compose symphonies. Horses learn to answer what is two plus two by pounding a hoof four times, human beings calculate the distance between galaxies in light years.At the same time, prairie dogs, sparrows and horses don't manufacture nerve gas and use it to murder their own kind. The irony is that our uniqueness of consciousness, creativity and ability to think in abstracts are the same abilities that give us the capability for unimaginable evil.

Did God plan to make people evil?  The biblical account of creation shows that the first human beings originally displayed no evil thoughts or actions. They lived in harmony with their Creator and with each other.The Bible reveals that human beings were made in the image and likeness of God. This is why we have the ability to love, to reason and to feel and express complex emotions. God also gave us something else. Along with reasoning—and the capacity to look at facts and come to conclusions—comes the power to choose. We make hundreds of reasoned choices each day. We decide what to wear and pick what we'll have for lunch. We determine which projects get priority. We also choose which thoughts we'll consider and which ones we'll discard, how we'll deal with our emotions and what actions we'll take in treating others. In this way human beings have the capacity to choose between good and evil. We can choose to control our anger or we can choose to burn down our neighbor's house in revenge. The issue of choice is a complex human activity, but freedom of choice explains why human beings can be both good and evil.

 Why would anyone choose evil?   We are born with a few inherent instincts. One is self-preservation. If we didn't have a will to survive, the entire race would've died off millennia ago. We also want to avoid unpleasant experiences. No one wants to feel physical pain or the discomfort of being cold or hungry. No one wants to feel emotionally rejected or made to feel worthless by others. We also want to feel good. We desire to please our five senses. The instinct for self-preservation, need for food and shelter, and desire to please the senses aren't evil. But how we choose to fulfill those desires can be good or evil.It really comes down to how much we're motivated by selfishness. It's hard to accept that all the evil in the world comes down to something so simple. Selfishness is the root of evil. Because of the intensity of our instinct for self-preservation and our desire for fulfillment of the senses, each person tends to see himself or herself as the center of the universe. Yet the more a person is motivated by unbridled selfishness, the more hurtful his or her choices will be. It's easy to see evil in people like Saddam Hussein, who on a national scale exerted selfishness on others through force and violence. It's much more difficult to come to grips with the selfishness that lies within each of us. The more we focus on our selfish desires, the less we are able to recognize or understand our own faults and to experience concern for the welfare of others. The more a person is controlled by selfishness, the more that person shifts responsibility for his or her actions to others. Human beings are the only physical creatures still unfinished. Dogs are dogs. Birds are birds. They are complete creations that can only adapt to a new environment in limited ways. On the other hand, human beings are searching for meaning. We can and do grow emotionally, mentally and socially. One of the most incredible concepts revealed in the Bible is that salvation is creation. Although it is the foundational first step in our salvation, the Messiah didn't come to earth just to die for the forgiveness of sins. God's forgiveness opens the door for human beings to have a relationship with their Creator and begin the growth process to become what God intended us to be.The world of violence, poverty, alcoholism, drug abuse, drive-by shootings and broken marriages isn't the world God created for us. We've done this to ourselves, with Satan's help. It will never get better until each of us is willing to recognize the evil of our own selfishness.Remember that self-preservation, desire to fulfill the senses and curiosity to acquire knowledge aren't evil. But these aspects of our nature have been twisted into self-centeredness. The driving force in so much of what people say and do is in the pursuit of things, feeling good and claiming superiority to others.

Titus 2:11-14
For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope - the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.