God Does Not Call Evil Good
Today’s devotional
When harm has been done, an easy reassurance can leave the wounded person more alone. Being told that everything will become a useful lesson may sound hopeful to the speaker while making the pain harder to name. Christian hope gives us room to tell the truth. God does not require us to call cruelty good.
Divine judgment declares that our treatment of others matters before God. It also brings our own conduct into view. We cannot reserve accountability for people whose failures are easy to condemn. God's holy opposition to evil concerns the wrongs we commit, the needs we overlook, and the uses of power we prefer not to examine.
Matthew 25 places ordinary bodily need within the searching light of Christ's judgment. Food, clothing, welcome, illness, and imprisonment are part of the scene. Christians differ about aspects of its interpretation, but its challenge cannot be reduced to being pleasant. Faithful attention must reach actual people whose needs can be ignored even in a busy religious life.
Revelation 21 gives a vision of God dwelling with humanity and bringing an end to the grief and death that mark our world. That promise does not make today's tears trivial. Within the wider biblical account, renewal includes God's confrontation with what destroys life. Hope rests in God's action, beyond what we can repair or explain for ourselves.
In Christ, mercy addresses the truth about sin and opens the way to forgiveness and renewed life. We do not purchase that mercy by accumulating good deeds. Nor does receiving mercy excuse indifference to harm. Grace frees us to acknowledge wrong, protect those affected, and seek repair without making fear or self-preservation the center of faith.
For someone living with unresolved pain, a faithful response may include lament. No inspiring outcome is required before care can be offered. For someone becoming aware of neglected need, the response may be a modest act of attention. Today, let the promise of God's renewal strengthen your willingness to see another person's life clearly and respond with responsible love.
Adapted from chapter 8, “Evil Is Real,” in Becoming Fully Human by Dr. R. C. Titus.
Read the Scripture
Open each passage and read slowly. Notice a word, question, or invitation that asks for your attention.
Matthew 25:31-46 · WEBU
31“But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory.
32Before him all the nations will be gathered, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
33He will set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
34Then the King will tell those on his right hand, ‘Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;
35for I was hungry and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you took me in.
36I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me.’
37“Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink?
38When did we see you as a stranger and take you in, or naked and clothe you?
39When did we see you sick or in prison and come to you?’
40“The King will answer them, ‘Most certainly I tell you, because you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
41Then he will say also to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels;
42for I was hungry, and you didn’t give me food to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink;
43I was a stranger, and you didn’t take me in; naked, and you didn’t clothe me; sick, and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’
44“Then they will also answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and didn’t help you?’
45“Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Most certainly I tell you, because you didn’t do it to one of the least of these, you didn’t do it to me.’
46These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Revelation 21:1-5 · WEBU
1I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth have passed away, and the sea is no more.
2I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband.
3I heard a loud voice out of heaven saying, “Behold, God’s dwelling is with people; and he will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.
4He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; neither will there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain any more. The first things have passed away.”
5He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” He said, “Write, for these words of God are faithful and true.”
Pause and respond
For reflection
Whose need or pain have I been tempted to minimize because acknowledging it would ask something of me?
A practice for today
Notice one need you can respond to today. Ask what would be helpful, listen without explaining away the difficulty, and offer one manageable act of care.
A prayer
God of justice and mercy, you see the harm we suffer and the harm we cause. Receive our lament and expose our indifference. Through Jesus Christ, lead us into truthful care, responsible action, and hope in the renewal only you can bring. Amen.
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