It would seem to me that there are more discrepancies between defining 'good' than there are in defining who God is. For every different belief of who the Supreme Being is, there are also variations within that group who differ on how 'they' feel the Supreme Being feels.

I just saw a short video, entitled, "Are People Born Good?"

It seemed to present a point that it is more important whether we believe people are born good than whether we believe in God.

It was posted on Facebook, and it defined a moral and judging creator ...not really specifying God.  I was glad our Pastor quickly and simply mentioned what was not mentioned at all in the video ...God's son, Jesus.

I also wholeheartedly embrace that simple truth of the event that Jesus died that we may have life...and I can simply open up to you, but when I get here, you may laugh and say, "That boy doesn't allow anything to be simple."

Well, I aspired to stay in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, live in a small town where the streets rolled up at 9:00 pm, and raise my own vegetables ...so, is that simple enough for you?  It would seem God had different plans.

Instead, I was exposed first to the behaviors and curriculum of a college campus, the frustrations of trying to compete in the dwindling availability of a work force, and trying to acclimate to city life.  I got a job in a Mental Hospital, and when that closed I had to transfer to a Mental Health Prison.  To say the least, I learned things that I felt I never wanted to learn ...that life wasn't simple.

So, what did I learn ...perhaps you can discern.

Was it for the good, or for the bad?

And why is life not always simple?  Well, in the field of mental health there are many psychologists and psychiatrists who would readily blame the environment ...which includes you and me.  As we reach a certain age we seemingly are esteemed with a rite of passage ...where we can no longer blame, but are the ones who are to be blamed.

Yes, the environment has much to do with it ...but it can be overstated too.  On the other hand, we should not just dismiss any consideration of what may have led to undesirable behavior by just saying we should just get on with it, the person is guilty.

The discussion was whether people are born good.  We would say no ...yet, would we say people are born bad?  

We can quote the scriptures. 

Jeremiah 17:9 says, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?"


Romans 3:10 says, "There is no one righteous, not even one ..."


Matthew 19:17, "Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments."

Mark 10:18 & Luke 18:19 say the same thing, "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good--except God alone."

Was Jesus saying that only the Father is good?  No, Jesus was saying only One is good ...but He also said He and the Father are One.  And so is the Holy Spirit ...the Trinity of One.  Jesus was asking a question that would hopefully make the person think.

When we read of God's act of Creation ..."So God created mankind in His own image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them." &... "God saw all that He had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day."

Soon we read, "Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

The woman implied her loyalty to the man in stating to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden' ..."

We see that the woman repeated what she was told, having no event to go against what God had said ...up until the serpent entered the scene.  There was an introduction here of a character who was not a good influence.

Our main problem is that we often fall to bad influences.

I'm not saying we are good ...because without God, we can do the most evil things.  Even with accepting God into our lives, we have occasion to do some significant things we would not call good.  So, none of us are good ...only the Trinity, God, is good.  Yet, God created us with the ability to choose Him who is good, or to choose not to accept Him.

I believe we have that choice, because without it ...how could we be rightly judged.  And God is righteous.

The angels were created also ...and we don't know the process of convincing, other than we read of the ringleader and that a third followed that influence.

One could say that two thirds of the angels were good ...or that two thirds followed He who is good.  But, it would seem that a third decided to actively join the rebellion.

Some of us would think it convenient to say we do not choose ...but that is neither accurate nor convenient.  I never consider deception convenient, especially since I don't believe living for the moment is the best plan in the long run.