Ask Anne

Hey everybody! Anne here. Thanks to who ever wrote this question; I was beginning to wonder if anybody knew I was out there :) So to start this advice column out with a bang, how about starting with something a bit more serious. I think this is a question that everyone asks at least once in his/her life.

How can there be a good and loving God when there is so much pain, evil, and suffering in the world?

So I've been thinking about my answer to this one for about a week now, and I hope this does the trick.

First things first, God is the most loving, gracious being there is. He is so good and loves all of us so much that He gave us this amazing world to take care, as well as each other. He gave us the Garden of Eden, heaven on earth. He also gave us our free will; He gave us the choice to choose good or evil. He never has, and He never will, make us do something. That's where the whole evil/pain/suffering thing comes in the mix. We are the ones that chose to bring evil and pain and suffering into this world. God gave us a loving, good, and just world, but original sin took that away from us. We chose to give in to temptation and to sin. If it weren't for our own choices, we could see how amazing God is. In fact, God loves us so much that He is willing to forgive us every time we sin and hurt each other. All we have to do is ask. We can commit the same sin over and over and over, and as long as we are genuinely sorry, He will forgive us. Our job as Christians is to not sin over and over and over again. We need to be better people so we can reach God's kingdom of goodness and love.

So I hope this answered your question completely. If not, leave me a comment or write me another question.

'Til next time!

Anne