Summary

We live in an imperfect world.

We have freedom of choice.

Our Creator wants us to choose to respond to His love despite our selfish tendencies.

Suffering

• Can make us stop and think.
• Sometimes warns that things are not right.
• May make us stop and consider risks we are taking.
• Makes us think about the effect of our actions on other people.
• Disturbs our routines and can make us realise:
  • that our lives are not endless.
  • there is something wrong with our world.
• Can make us stop and think about our loving Creator's offer of life after death which we can choose to accept or reject

The Bible tells us that suffering will end when Jesus returns to remove the Imperfections in our world.

If you would like to explore the Bible message further then have a look at the Further Info page in the Learn More section.

Further Information

1. Our selfish streak

The Bible tells us that we are basically self-centred. In the early days of our history, the Bible tells us what this produced:

Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

Genesis 6 v 5

Jesus spelt out what we are capable of:

For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.

Matthew 15 v 19

The prophet Jeremiah was even more blunt:

he heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?

Jeremiah 17 v 9

The Apostle James in the New Testament tells us that we are an imperfect dying race because of this selfish streak:

But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.

James 1 v 14 and 15