Beliefnet is pleased to present an inspirational devotional from the gifted Christian author Brian McLaren. This is week 2 of the 8 week-long devotional. If you missed the previous entries, stay subscribed to this feed to start over.
Unsatisfied with the immeasurable gift of being created in God’s image, unwilling to live within limits as God’s creatures in creation, we want more–to be gods ourselves, living without limits, setting our own rules. We reach for knowledge and taste its bitter fruit–alienation between man and woman, brother and brother, humanity and creation. We live on the edge of self-destruction, riding the rising tide of our own flood of evil, trying to build great and prosperous cities that mask our own spiritual poverty.

The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. (Genesis 6:5-6)

JOURNALING PROMPTS:
5. Where in the last 24 hours have you most seen human evil at work? Express your sadness, outrage, despair, or frustration at what you’ve seen.
6. Focus on a powerful experience you have had as a victim of evil. Tell that story. Why is remembering it important for your life?
7. Focus on a powerful experience you have had as a perpetrator of evil. Tell that story and why remembering it is important in your life.
–Brian McLaren