This is why you are miserable

 The root cause of human misery is idolatry. What is idolatry? It is putting created things before the Creator.

​There is a deep void within man that needs to be filled. Man was made for relationship and connection. He wants something that can satisfy his deepest longings—the longings of the soul.

​Man is a dualistic being at minimum. He has a physical body and an inner being. The physical body can be defined as his earthly home through which he relates to the material world. The physical part of man needs physical food to survive and material comforts to thrive. The physical part of man allows him to relate to the other creatures on the planet. Animals eat, drink, have sexual relationships, etc., and man participates in the same via his physical nature.

​But life in the physical home alone will not satisfy him, for he also needs to feed his inner man, his higher nature. The higher nature needs deep, intimate relationships. The inner nature seeks a deep connection. The higher nature wants to be accepted, known, and loved as is. Man wants to be loved in his totality.

​But this is difficult because man is evil; he has flaws and can find it challenging to find someone who will accept him as he is if they were to know him in his fullness. To many, a mother's love is the highest form of love they know, for a mother or father tolerates us with many of our faults. They know us. But for others, even a parent's love doesn't cover the entire inner man. There is still misunderstanding; there is still rejection.

​Life can be frustrating when the needs of the inner man are not met—when you feel no one understands you. It is a painful experience to live without a deep inner connection with anyone.

​Idolatry is the attempt to fill that void with created beings or created things. The problem is that created things can't fulfill it; it's too deep. For you to feel completely loved, you would need someone to completely understand you: to know what you are trying to accomplish when you do something, what your true intentions are when you say something, and so forth. You need someone who understands your thought process and with whom you have a perfect understanding.

​The thing is, this level of intimate knowledge is hard to come by because many people don't even understand themselves, much less others. Many people are so distracted in life that they have no time for introspection, so forget about them trying to intimately know another.

​We try to force or manipulate others to love us, to stay with us. Some of us get clingy and basically suffocate others in our search for a deeper intimacy, and their lack of response leads to great misery. Sometimes in our attempt to get their love through deceptive means, they go away from us, which leads us to deeper despair. And so, human relationships end up in misery. To seek that deep, intimate relationship with humans first and foremost will lead to misery, frustration, and inner anger.

​Some people, having seen the failure of having true intimacy with humans, seek to fill the void with pleasure, materialism (money), and whatever else they feel provides them with some form of comfort. Yet these things, being inanimate, cannot fulfill, and the soul is left desolate. Violence and all manner of destructive behavior follow as a result.

​The Creator is the only One who truly understands us, accepts us, and can fulfill our innermost longings. The Creator, being a Spirit, can connect with our spirit. Being all-knowing, He knows all our innermost parts. Being all-loving, He loves us to the innermost core. He knows what we need, when we need it, and how we need it. He made us primarily for a relationship with Him, and from our relationship with Him, we learn how to have relationships with others.

​Idolatry is Satan's cruel work to make us seek satisfaction from material things—which are beneath us and can't fulfill the soul—or from other people, who are focused on their own needs being met first and yours second.

​Reliance on God will fulfill your deepest longings and make you strong. You will have Someone who is never too busy to hear you, never tired of hearing you, and knows how to sustain you.

​Idolatry makes us weak and feeble as we put our dependence on selfish human beings, but reliance on God makes you strong enough to sustain another person as you lead them to Christ.

​The best thing you can do in life is to ask God for the strength to remove all idols and to put Him first. Trust me, it's for your own happiness.

Source of true strength

​Life is immensely challenging, and every one of us needs an anchor to fortify us through its trials. The fundamental question we must ask ourselves is: where do we find our strength?

​As created beings, we do not possess infinite strength within ourselves. Consider a growing child. A child is inherently dependent on their parents, not only for physical sustenance, but for emotional stability. They rely on love and affection to develop into a healthy individual—mentally, morally, and spiritually.

​When I speak of the spiritual aspect, I am not referring strictly to formal religion; I am speaking of the inner person. The internal self requires nourishment to survive and mature. If a child does not receive that crucial affirmation at home, they inevitably seek it elsewhere—through friends, authority figures, or sometimes even destructive groups like gangs. Even in bad company, what they are fundamentally seeking is a sense of brotherhood, belonging, and affection that tells them their life matters.

​Without love and a sense of inherent worth, surviving life’s hardships becomes nearly impossible. Life cannot be reduced to merely eating, drinking, and tending to the physical body; the inner person must be fed. We see this vividly in many affluent Western societies. Material wealth may be abundant, yet depression, anxiety, loneliness, and despair run rampant. Many lose the very will to live because they feel unloved and disconnected.

​In response, people place their trust in substitute sources of strength: money and wealth, intellect and wisdom, and status and position. The fatal flaw with these sources is that they are inherently temporary and subject to failure. In your time of ultimate need, money cannot heal a broken spirit, friends may move away or pass on, spouses can be overwhelmed, health can deteriorate, jobs can disappear, and armies can desert their king. Whenever we anchor our lives to something that changes, we risk total collapse when that anchor gives way.

​This reality echoes the biblical warning in Jeremiah seventeen verse five: "Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord."

​Human support systems, while valuable, are finite. Only God remains constant. No bad weather, financial hardship, or physical trial can hinder God from stepping in to sustain us.

​When a person truly feels loved, valued, and anchored by God, they gain an inner resilience that makes them virtually unstoppable. The internal spirit is restored. Conversely, when we reduce ourselves to mere biological matter—random atoms with no higher purpose—it is easy to fall into despair during difficult seasons.

​To build an enduring life, we must make God our primary anchor. First, immerse yourself in His Word; discover how God views you. When the world tells you that you are worthless, Scripture reminds you that you are deeply valued and intentionally made. Second, maintain honest prayer; bring your genuine frustrations, fears, anxieties, and disappointments directly to God. Never hesitate to ask Him specifically for strength and fortitude.

​Materialism has its place, but it will never satisfy the inner soul. Seek your strength, wisdom, and purpose in the Lord. When He becomes your anchor, you will find the fortitude to endure any storm and truly thrive

The Conqueror's Heart: Why Love Is Not for the Faint of Heart

​To Josephine, at Milan.

​Verona, November 23, 1796.

​I don't love you an atom; on the contrary, I detest you. You are a good for nothing, very ungraceful, very tactless, very tatterdemalion. You never write to me; you don't care for your husband; you know the pleasure your letters give him, and you write him barely half-a-dozen lines, thrown off anyhow.

​How, then, do you spend the livelong day, madam? What business of such importance robs you of the time to write to your very kind lover? What inclination stifles and alienates love, the affectionate and unvarying love which you promised me? Who may this paragon be, this new lover who engrosses all your time, is master of your days, and prevents you from concerning yourself about your husband? Josephine, be vigilant; one fine night the doors will be broken in, and I shall be before you.

​Truly, my dear, I am uneasy at getting no news from you. Write me four pages immediately, and some of those charming remarks which fill my heart with the pleasures of imagination.

​I hope that before long I shall clasp you in my arms, and cover you with a million kisses as burning as if under the equator.

​Bonaparte

​No. 17.

 Why is it so difficult to love? Everyone in this society—everyone in the world—looks for love. I have been reading a book about Napoleon, his love life, and the love letters he wrote to his wife. You can see that he was a very passionate guy. He expressed his heart and his tenderness toward her: how he missed her, how he loved her, and how he wanted to hear from her every single day because he felt she was the one who kept him alive. Without her, life would be miserable.

​Because he was in the military—he was not yet the emperor—and facing danger all the time, he needed an anchor: someone who could hold him, care for him, and truly love him. But his wife was not responding in the same way. In his follow-up letters, he kept asking her, "Why don't you write to me all the time? Are you so busy that you can't? Do you love me the way I love you?"

​In a way, you can see his tenderness and his suffering coming through those letters. As a matter of fact, he even spoke about how much he suffered because she was not responding in the same way. So, even in Napoleon—a guy you would think was a ruthless military commander—you can see a starvation for love. This has been the problem of humanity throughout history because we are made to love and to be loved. Yet, this has become rare. Finding love is almost like finding a diamond on the floor; it is very difficult.

​So, why is love so difficult? First of all, we have a misunderstanding of love. Love is not easy, and love does not come from the weak. Why? Because the weak do not have the strength necessary to love. Love is an exercise in giving; love is about self-sacrifice. Looking back at Napoleon's letters, we can also see neediness. He was dependent upon his wife for affection, and even though he showered her with affection and love, that dependency made him weak.

​When you are looking for love, it is going to be very hard because the people we deal with are not automatically loving beings—they are seeking love themselves. When people are seeking love, it is often because they do not have love to give. If you have love to give, you seek to give love and receive it in return. This is what makes love difficult.

​Second, love requires patience. If you don't have patience, you will not be able to love because you are dealing with someone who has all manner of flaws and weaknesses. You have to be patient with them. Only as you are patient with them over a long period of time will they feel loved and safe enough to open up and respond to your love.

​Love also requires long-suffering. If you are not willing to suffer, forget about love. When dealing with other people who have flaws and faults, you will suffer. Love requires great strength and forgiveness. If you are not willing to forgive, you cannot love, because people will wrong you. We are all sinful, broken, and fallen human beings, so we may wrong each other intentionally or unintentionally.

​If you want to love, you cannot be vindictive. You have to be a forgiving and tender person. You have to overlook the faults of others in order to love, and you have to keep loving them even when they do not respond. Consider Napoleon again: he had a spouse, he kept writing letters to her, and she was not responding. Yet, you can see his desire to love her. He kept trying—sending her gifts and doing everything he could to show his great love for her.

​In a similar manner, if you want to love, you have to keep doing things for the person even if they do not respond. This is how God treats us. God treats us with loving-kindness and faithfulness even when we do not respond. Eventually, some of us do respond, but He keeps trying.

​The reason some of us do not respond is selfishness. A lot of times, we want someone to love us, but we are so focused on ourselves that we don't understand how much the other person is going through or sacrificing to show us that love. Therefore, loving others really requires dependence on God. Naturally, we are weak and frail human beings without the strength and fortitude to love. When we rely on God, we ask Him for strength, to pour His love upon us, and to give us His Holy Spirit. Patience, loving-kindness, and compassion are gifts of the Spirit, and we need the Holy Spirit to truly love.

​In society, people often think love is a weakness, but love is not a weakness—love is strength. Love requires fortitude. Only those who are strong can truly love; a weak person cannot love. To contemplate love: if you want to love and be loved, you need a connection with God and reliance on the Holy Spirit for that strength.

​Finally, consider why God forgives us right away when we sin. It is because God is strong. Is God hurt when we sin? Yes, because God is pure, lovely, and innocent. There is no impurity or falsehood in God. Hurting someone who is completely innocent is a heinous crime, so sinning against God is a heinous crime. Yet, the Lord is love. The Lord is merciful and tender. The moment you come to Him, He forgives you right away.

​This is what real love is: genuine love is merciful, tender, compassionate, and long-suffering. It forgives iniquity, sin, and transgression. It overlooks faults and still bestows blessings on both the good and the evil, just as God causes blessings to fall on all. You continue doing good to the person even if they do wrong to you. Love is hard because we are separated from God, but as we draw closer to God, we learn to give to others and shower them with love and compassion.

​Additionally, we are changeable. Our emotions shift based on life's circumstances, and that in itself can make it difficult to love properly. Today you may wake up feeling like you want to love, but tomorrow you are not in the mood and you push the person away. Love requires consistency; there is no safety without consistency. It takes a stable individual to properly love others—someone who lets others know, in a deep sense, what to expect from day to day, reassuring them that they care and will be there as much as it depends on them.

​In conclusion, love is not easy, as it demands incredible strength and does not come from the weak. It is an exercise in giving and self-sacrifice, requiring patience and long-suffering over a long period for others to feel safe and respond. This form of love also requires great forgiveness, overlooking faults, and continuing to offer blessings even when unreturned. Ultimately, this strength depends on a connection with God, as true love is merciful and compassionate, much like the way He forgives our sins and continues to provide blessings to all.

Spain vs Argentina: a brilliant script

 You know, despite the world being so evil, people do have a love for what is right. For example, during the World Cup, Argentina was perceived by a lot of people to benefit from dubious refereeing decisions that allowed them to reach the final, especially in the games versus Egypt. A lot of people felt that the referees unfairly removed the second Egyptian goal and also unfairly denied Egypt a review by the VAR (the video assistant referee) of the third goal scored by Argentina in extra time. Following that was the Swiss game, where a lot of people felt like Argentina again benefited from a refereeing decision that gave the Swiss team a red card. So, people were very furious with Argentina, and they even called them "Vargentina." They even talked about how Argentina was FIFA's favorite team or how FIFA was planning to crown Messi as king.

​But in the final game versus Spain, a lot of people—the majority of people who were not for Argentina—were supporting Spain because they felt like Argentina was unjustly in the final. Basically, they became the villain in the storyline. If there were a script, then that script was a brilliant one by FIFA to make people hate Argentina and support Spain, which also would bring a lot of people to watch the final because they wanted to see that villain defeated. So, it would be a brilliant idea if that were the script that FIFA wanted to develop. Just like in a movie, you make the villain so evil so that people will love the hero when the hero wins.

​Nevertheless, Argentina played in the final and they played aggressively, while Spain played the way soccer was supposed to be played, and people loved Spain as a result. People were celebrating Spain because they felt like Spain had saved soccer from the anti-football tactics of Argentina. This goes to show us that people in this world, no matter how evil it is, love to see what is right done; even though they do evil in their own lives, they love to see righteous acts done. They want to see somebody who's fair, somebody who's just, and somebody who's beautiful in the way they deal with others. People still hate ugliness; a lot of people hated the Argentinian team because they felt like they played ugly and were not sportsmanlike.

​So, that goes to show you that, as a Christian, you should not follow the world in doing evil, because you may think that by doing evil, the world will love you. The fact of the matter is, the world will despise you, even though they themselves are evil. The world loves to see somebody who's beautiful. Even when they are against you and your principles because you are different from them, there will still be a deeper appreciation for who you are. If you resist evil, this is where true love is developed. Anybody who cares for you will truly love you, and that's why righteousness prevails in the end—because righteousness is always beautiful. Righteousness appeals even when those who are evil hate you; even the one who hates you will have a deep appreciation for you. Just like with Jesus—if you notice, the Pharisees hated Jesus, but they were always around him.

Dealing with life's hardships: Lessons from Napoleon's letters

 Dealing with life's hardships: Lessons from Napoleon's letters

​Life is hard. Every man has his struggles. I read a book containing letters written by Napoleon to his wife, Josephine, in which he expresses his fears and worries. At one point, he said he was ready to curse his life, but for thoughts of her:

​"When I am weary of the worries of my profession, when I mistrust the issue, when men disgust me, when I am ready to curse my life, I put my hand on my heart where your portrait beats in unison. I look at it, and love is for me complete happiness; and everything laughs for joy, except the time during which I find myself away from my beloved.

​"By what art have you learnt how to captivate all my faculties, to concentrate in yourself my spiritual existence? It is a witchery, dear love, which will end only with me. To live for Josephine, that is the history of my life."

​The thing—the person—that kept him going at this stage of his life was his love for his wife. Love overcomes all things.

​Friends, life is hard no matter how you look at it. A car accident might take away the one you love; a job loss may take away your finances. We are surrounded by constant trials, never knowing what tomorrow will bring. Life on this planet is hard.

​But one thing that will give us the strength to go through life's hardships is love: to love and be loved. While we don't want to make Napoleon's mistake and make an idol out of our spouses, we want to, instead, live for God. Think of Him, and He will strengthen us to go through the trials.

​

​When we are weary of the worries of our jobs, when we are dealing with mistrust, when men disgust us, when we are ready to curse our lives, let us touch our hearts and remember that Jesus loves us. Look at what He has done for us and who He is to us, and we will find joy. To live for Jesus—that is the story of our lives, the history we want to have.

​Love is powerful. We want to show similar love to others—love that will give them courage to face trials, courage to move forward, and courage to live. Love is life; by loving others, we ease their burdens and make life easier.

​As I thought on this piece from Napoleon, it brought into clearer focus that the solution to society's many ills is love—genuine love that has its origin in God. The man and woman who have this love are of heavenly origin, and the place they abide will be one full of life, a heaven on Earth for its recipient.

A glimpse into heaven

 ​Have you ever wondered what heaven would look like? What makes the place our aim? Why is it that many cannot wait to go there?

​Well, come with me on this journey to the heavenly place—the place you cannot wait to enter. The place some Christians say, "When you die, you go there." The place where, anytime a celebrity dies or someone we admire dies, we say they go there, no matter how they lived. Let us get a glimpse of heaven, taste it, and see how it is.

​Earthly: "My wife has really upset me right now. I will give her a piece of my mind. I will speak hurtful words to her to show her my pain."

​Heavenly: "On second thought, let me not do this. I made a vow to love her, and love doesn't speak words that wound for the sake of wounding. Love heals, love protects. I will be gentle. I don't feel like it, but love is not based on feelings, but on what is right. Therefore, I will remain silent until the words of my mouth will heal instead of wounding."

​Behold this man who suffers long with the mistakes of his wife. Who doesn’t say hurtful words to her, who seeks to uplift her continually. Who doesn't just say meaningless words of "I love you" to her, but who demonstrates it by his actions. Behold his self-control in holding back his tongue, his emotions, lest they burst forth and tear her world apart. Behold him taking the lead in making sure his wife enjoys being at home; she looks forward to being there because he is her joy.

​Behold this man, who is easy to talk to, not easily angered, kind, patient, and forgiving. He provides the space for her to be herself, and she grows. His wife glows; she lives in an abundance of love.

​The heavenly man understands that his wife's behavior, or his own tiredness, frustration, and mental state, is no excuse for the mistreatment of his wife, for to do so would reduce him to the state of a beast who is governed by impulse and not rationality. The heavenly man understands that he must always be on guard against his internal beast that would seek to destroy his loved ones. He is a husband, a "houseband," that binds the home together in love, and he must defend it with his life. He defends the home against all threats, including threats proceeding from his own heart. In order for him to love his wife and those around him, he must, like a hunter in a village, guard the door of his heart with a spear, so that anytime the beastly nature of revenge or violence seeks to enter his marriage, he slays it with self-control, tenderness, and love.

​Look at his wife, slow to anger. When she is mad about something, she doesn't speak right away. She studies herself, understands her own emotions, and knows the best time she can speak. Maybe speaking is not it for her; maybe she texts him. It is easier for her not to say hurtful things in this way, and she practices it. Because she says, "I love my husband, and how could I break that love by wounding it? I would rather battle these rash feelings of mine, subdue them first, and then I will speak to him when I am calm." Love doesn't wound. She thinks all day about, "How can I make the life of my husband more pleasant? What are the things he needs, and how can I provide them for him?" My husband is my gift from God, and I will treat him as so.

​The wife, having walked with God, understands that having her monthly cycle, a bad day, frustration, etc., doesn't release her from her vow to love and respect her husband. She understands, as a matter of fact, that real love is revealed in times of adversity. Having known herself as she walks with God, she too, like a hunter, guards her own heart with due diligence and vigilance. She watches over it for any hints of the serpent within seeking to slither out and strike her husband with her poisonous tongue. She is ever ready to strike the serpent with the spear of self-control, silence, and prayer, lest it destroy her husband even as they remain married. She knows it was in talking to the serpent that the man and woman lost paradise, and she will not allow the serpent in her lower nature to destroy the paradise of her home. She knows love is not a given, but it must be built and guarded with vigilance.

​Look at this politician who ran for office on the promise he will help the people and does all he can to fulfill his vow. He tells the truth as it is, even to his own detriment. He failed in his endeavor; the people voted him out, but they know he was an honest man.

​Look at this pastor at a church; his priority is the spiritual health of the people. He treats them with love and kindness. He doesn't look down upon them or take advantage of their ignorance, but prays for them, intercedes for them.

​Look at this man in traffic who is not enraged when someone cuts him off, but prays for safe travels for that person. Look at him giving to the poor beggar who comes to his window.

​Look at the man who uses his money to help others, who doesn't take advantage of others by the use of his money. He sees his money as a gift from God, and he will use it for the betterment of humanity.

​The man who understands that all human beings, no matter their skin colors, nationalities, or backgrounds, are members of one human family. He doesn't hate his neighbor, but loves him and treats him as he himself would want to be treated. A man who looks beyond superficial differences and sees the truth. He has evolved from the ignorance of racism to genuine wisdom. He focuses more on what we have in common than what separates us.

​Look at the man or woman who sacrifices self daily, moment by moment, so they can be a blessing to others, so they can make the lives of others better. The man or woman who keeps their vows to love through thick and thin. The man or woman who understands that love is more than empty words, but actions. Love is concerned with the well-being of the other. The man and woman whom people in the closest ties to them will testify of their love, their patience, tenderness, and self-control. The man and woman whose very home resembles a piece of heaven on earth—and you will get a glimpse of heaven.

​For heaven is not merely a place, but a lifestyle, an attitude of self-denial for the betterment of others.

​Satan was in heaven, but was cast out because his attitude of selfishness was incompatible with that place. His attitude made heaven a hellish place of suffering; his mind was turned into darkness, and he could no longer dwell there.

​Those who practice similar behavior will not enter heaven because they are citizens of hell.

​Those who begin to get a glimpse of heaven here in their own lives will be fit to enter into the heavenly realm in the hereafter. There is no need to wait until you die to go to heaven; heaven on earth is possible to some degree. It requires us to start living like heavenly citizens, to seek the good of others, to restrain self, and promote love.

​Charles Darwin spoke of evolution, of man rising from his ignorance, from the primordial slime to become what he is now. The heavenly man is the truly evolved one, for he has risen from a hellish mindset of ignorance and selfishness. He saw a glimpse of heaven in the life of Christ, in God's Word, and through prayer and practice, heaven has come into his life, and heaven walks with him, abides with him in his daily living.

​The man who dwells in heaven has died here, for the way to heaven is through the gates of death. Heaven begins when the self begins to die; the greater the death, the more joyful the heavenly home. As we die to self more and more, those around us will experience a greater revelation of heaven. Do not wait to physically die to experience heaven when Christ returns, for only those who die daily here will be able to enter there.

​Heaven is practical. I hope you have seen a glimpse of it today. Go and practice. Go and build a heavenly home today.

Did God Make Us? The Devolution of Man

​God Did Not Make Us: The Devolution of Man

​Typically, you will hear people ask the question, "Did God create the Devil? Did God create a being so evil and wicked?" The answer is, of course, no. God didn't create the Devil. God created a beautiful angel called the "Son of the Morning," commonly known as Lucifer, the angel of light. So, how did he become a devil? "Devil," by the way, means "the adversary." He became so by his own choice. He chose to rebel against God and live by principles contrary to His will. He stands in opposition to God.

​What about us? Did God make us as we are? When you look at us, what do you see? Well, let’s first look at what some thinkers—some famous ones—have said on the matter:

​"Man is the only animal whose desires increase as they are fed; the only animal that is never satisfied." — Henry George

​"Man is by nature a political animal." — Aristotle

​"Man is the only animal that blushes. Or needs to." — Mark Twain

​"Man is a reasoning animal. He must get his reasons for any untoward light into which he has fallen." — Robert Louis Stevenson

​"Man is the only animal that deals in that atrocity of atrocities, war." — H.L. Mencken

​"Man is a gold-digging, diamond-seeking, oil-drilling, bottom-feeding animal." — George Carlin

​"Man is an animal that can think, and it is precisely this ability that has caused him to lose his way." — Paramahansa Yogananda

​"Man is the only animal that inflicts pain for pleasure, knowing it to be pain." — Mark Twain

​"Man is the cruelest animal." — Friedrich Nietzsche

​"The animal is a logical creature; man is the only one who behaves irrationally." — Bertrand Russell

​"Man is a wolf to man." — Plautus (later popularized by Thomas Hobbes)

​"Animals are born who they are, accept it, and that is that. They live with greater simplicity than we do... but man is an animal that can be something more, or something less, than an animal." — Jean-Paul Sartre

​"There is no cruelty that a man is not capable of, which a beast would find unthinkable." — Victor Hugo

​Man is animal-like. It’s no wonder that Charles Darwin, when he looked at the world, concluded that man evolved from lower forms of beings. From what he saw, he was basically saying there is no way such a being is the product of a benevolent Creator. For when he looked at mankind, all he saw was wickedness: man killing others, stealing, cheating, and spreading suffering among one another. Such a being doesn't reflect a benevolent Creator at all.

​When I look at the world, all I see is suffering of all types and bloodshed. The majority of this world’s suffering is caused by man—not animals, not nature, but man toward his fellows.

​Let’s begin from the smallest unit of society: the family. A man and woman seek love. They set their eyes upon each other and come before the altar, promising to love each other through thick and thin, to respect and cherish each other, etc. But, lo and behold, the greatest source of misery for that man and woman ends up being the marriage itself. They yell at each other, try to control one another, and let out the worst of their behaviors. They may seek to maintain self-control—the control of their animal passions when dealing with others—but they unleash them against those they claim to love and cherish. This is the cause of divorce; the "animal man" cannot last long in close relationships, and so, for many, marriage is a source of misery.

​Parents mistreat the children they claim to love and speak to them unkindly. Some even sexually or physically abuse their own children. This is animal behavior—and it is even worse than that of animals, because man has greater understanding than animals, and many animals do not behave in such a manner.

​Employees abuse and mistreat the people they need to make money. Church members proclaim brotherhood to one another and yet are in constant fights because they see things differently; they hate each other and smear one another. This is animal behavior.

​Politicians promise to serve the people, but instead enrich themselves at the people's expense, leading to all manner of economic disparity that triggers revolutions—in which they themselves may become victims. Business elites enrich themselves through corrupt dealings and false balances, which create hatred and envy in the masses, leading to revolutions to seize control of these riches. The human being—the "animal man," or as the Bible calls him, the "natural man"—no matter how high or low his position is, lacks foresight. As a result, he cannot see the end result of his decisions; he makes choices that seem to benefit himself today but end up being his ruin tomorrow.

​We know we are one human race, yet we hate each other and abuse one another because of our different skin colors. Man hates woman, and vice versa. We hate others who are of different religions or backgrounds. We make war against each other for resources. The human being is not only an animal in his irrationality, but he is worse than an animal because he has greater capacity than the beasts.

​God didn't make us as we are. We are the product of corruption.

​"Man that is in honour, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish." — Psalm 49:20 (KJV)

​The Bible itself compares the man without understanding to an animal that perishes. The man without understanding lives by impulses like the animals, with no lasting foresight, and he dies like the animals with no hope of eternal life.

​God didn't make us as we are. What we are now is a devolution—a downgraded version of what God created. The Bible says God made man in His image. Man was like God: loving, tender, and compassionate. But man didn't want to be like God. He chose instead to be like the animals; he listened to a snake, and his path downgraded from there. (Reference: Genesis 5:1–4)

​You see in the verses above that there was a clear change. The man was no longer in the image of God; he resembled Adam in his sinfulness, in his downgraded position. The moment Adam forsook his high calling, a change came to the human being. With each generation, we resemble God less and less, becoming more like the things around us—more like the beasts in nature. It was no surprise then that Cain killed his brother, Abel. How can you kill your own brother, whom you grew up with and were supposed to love? Cain had lost reason; he had lost sense. This is the condition of the "animal man." He has no sense; he is dangerous and destructive. The animal man doesn't comprehend Divine things; his reasoning cannot grasp Divine truth, for Divine truths are foolishness to him.

​"The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned." — 1 Corinthians 2:14 (ESV)

​It is no surprise when you tell people they have to love those who hurt them, and they rebel. You tell them they have to forgive those who hurt them, and they complain. It is no surprise they reject anything that would cause them to rise up higher, to return to the image of God. They prefer to remain bestial and sensual, with hatred and violence in their hearts.

​Any deep analysis of your own heart will clearly show you the predatory animal nature within: the desire to conquer, to get even, to hurt, and to get one up on your neighbor. The desire to live for desire, no matter how destructive it is to others. The animal nature is alive and well. We are all born with this nature, and the only way out is to be born again.

​What do you do if you find dangerous animals in your village? You destroy them in order to protect the life of your loved ones. In like manner, God destroyed societies that have sold themselves completely to the animal nature to protect the well-being of the universe. He drowned the people in Noah's days because they were completely animalistic, with their imagination towards evil continually, filled with violence. He destroyed Sodom because you can see they had clearly lost sight of the basic truth about the nature of sexual relationships, having to do with only man and woman. That homosexuality is an aberration of nature. And throughout history, God continues to destroy and overthrow nations that have given themselves up to animalistic tendencies and rob the earth of peace. He will destroy this world at the end because the world resembles a jungle with violent beasts of prey devouring each other physically, sexually, mentally, financially, and every other way you can think of. This is why God destroys. The animal man must be destroyed, for he is a threat to the well-being of the universe. This is also why God usually compares Satan and violent nations to animals, for that is what they are—and what we are—when unconverted.

​The Gospel is true: unless we are born again by the Spirit of God, we will not even see the Kingdom of God. The same way an animal cannot comprehend higher education is the same way a man without the Holy Spirit—an "animal man"—cannot comprehend the beauty of holiness.

​Friends, our solution is simple. We must see the animal in us—in our behaviors—and seek the Lord immediately and intensely. We must ask Him to crucify the flesh, the animal nature in us, and fill us with the Holy Spirit so that we may rise to the man and woman God designed us to be: the man made in His image, the man born of the Spirit.

​This is why I tell people always: read the Word and ask God for the power to treat people the way He tells us to. Pray for those who hurt you, do good to them, love your enemies, etc. These are the ways of a true human. But hatred, violence, selfishness, and getting even are all animal behaviors—and remember, no animal on this earth will enter heaven.

​So, Darwin was right in the sense that the man currently on earth is animalistic in nature. But God wants to do an evolution—a true process of evolution—to turn this animal into a man in His image.

​Do you want to evolve to Godlikeness? Then seek the Lord and ask Him to transform your heart daily.