God has always been present in my life. I am thankful for the opportunities he has given me, and to show my gratitude, I am making this blog to try and help people more people believe in him who may be in doubt.
On today's subject, I want to emphasize that God does respect free will. Many theologians throw the term "free will" around, and many theorize on what it means. I don't think it's as vague as people seem to make it. Free will means just that: we are free to make our own decisions about what we do and believe. And God respects that. True, it is in God's power to change our minds, as He did when He hardened the Pharaoh's heart toward the Hebrew slaves in Egypt. But for the most part, and especially so in the present times, God allows us to do what we want on Earth without impeding us. Biblical times were a teaching point in history to instruct us on what to do; now, God has stepped back to see if we will follow the right path, just as a parent must when their child comes of age. God respects us enough to let us make our own mistakes, and lets us believe what we want. He could very well reach down a giant hand from on high, giving the world no choice but to believe in Him, but he knows that love means more when it is voluntary, and lets us come to Him. Of course, this leads to some people disbelieving in Him, and going against His wishes for us, but because He respects free will He will not preempt the decisions we make. He loves us enough to let us believe He doesn't exist if we so choose. That does not mean that He will let everyone into Heaven regardless of belief, but to respect our decisions, He has to let us make our own mistakes.
I have often heard the question, "Why do bad things happen to good people?" In part, at least, this is explained by the phrase, "Shit happens." Not everything does have to have a deeper meaning; some things just happen. But free will does factor into this question as well. Many of the problems of good people arise because some bad person is causing them harm. And, because that bad person has chosen to act in such a way, God respects that. Not that he respects the decision to do evil, but if he were to intercede and alter the bad person's way of thinking, he would violate that person's free will, nullifying their ability to think for themselves. Respecting free will often has drawbacks, but without it, nothing we did would have any meaning. And so, God allows us to do what we will here on Earth. But, when our lives our over, that is when we settle our tabs with Him.
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