Inside each of us is a monster, a dragon we do not know.
All of us, born into this world, equally share a sinful nature that is inseparable from our humanity.
Evil is always present within us, lurking behind ordinariness, and is constantly looking for a way out, an opportunity to manifest itself. And the more often it finds it, the more habitual it becomes, acquiring new sophisticated forms.
And you can fool yourself into thinking that I am not like others, that I am always good...but don't be fooled, there is none good... "the thoughts of man's heart are evil from his youth"(Genesis 8:21).
"For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[c] For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing."(Romans 7:18-19)
But there will surely come a moment in our lives when that which lies in the depths of our heart will manifest itself clearly and powerfully. And it will bring to the surface of our being all the worst qualities that exist - anger, hatred, cruelty, lying, hypocrisy, selfishness, propensity for violence and destruction.
What will you do about it? Will you give in to it? Or will you challenge it?
God, our Creator, loves us and our freedom so much that He gave the devil the right to tempt man by exercising his free will to choose good or evil. And He put His divine particle in the human soul and intended it to resist this eternal temptation to evil.
And this is the most difficult choice in man's life.
For the power of the decision is so great that it can destroy or save millions of human lives. We know this from history and are witnessing it now.
The world is ruined. It will never be the same again. It has become war. Forever. And that war touches everyone. You don't have to be on the battlefield, war will find you everywhere.
Man is not free to decide in what family, in what country, and at what time to be born. But he is always free to choose between good and evil. No one, no citizenship or nationality, no society or collective mind can forbid him from making his own decisions - to side with light or darkness, to follow evil or good.
To call war a war, a crime a crime, and murder a murder. To close one's eyes and ears and blindly follow the crowd, the "collective unconscious," devoid of responsibility for one's actions.
Or to enter the battle on the side of good, defending peace, truth, freedom, humanity and morality with personal awareness and responsibility.
For the boundary that separates good from evil runs through a person's heart - "A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart.."(Luke 6:45)
It is always easier to give up the first negative thought than to change all distorted thinking. It is always easier to defeat wrong actions in the beginning than to correct ingrained bad habits. In the same way, it is always harder and more dangerous to fight evil that has already broken out.
It is not easy to overcome the evil in yourself. But the evil of this world will not disappear on its own. Until it is bound up in each of us.
"Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good"(Romans 12:21).
But if you don't fight, who will win?