What is evil?

Evil means turning away from God. It means disobeying his laws. It means doing what is wrong. God has given us several laws. He wants us to know and do what is true and good. He wants us to shun all evil. So, we must know well from evil. We must turn our back on evil.

God is all-kind. He was given us a mind to think and know what is good and true. He was given us a tongue to speak and say what it true and right. He has given us a body. We must use it to what is true and good.

But there are people who use these gifts of god wrongly. They use it for doing what is bad and wrong.

One can do evil while thinking, speaking or doing something. In other words, there are three kinds of evil.

1) evil done in thinking what is bad

2) Evil done in saying or speaking what is wrong.

3) Doing something that is wrong.

We must, then be pure in thought, word and deed. We must not think ill of others. We should not speak foul words; nor should we speak ill of anyone. And again we must not do anything against the laws of god. If we observe these rules, we are sure to be true children of god.

But a person, who ignores these rules, is sure to do evil. And evil always leads to trouble and unhappiness.

Once there lived a couple in Japan. They had a loving son whom they loved very dearly. Unluckily the husband died when their son was a small child. His mother brought him up with loving care. She was a very wise lady ho cared much for the habits of her son. She tried her best to make him a good child.

In due course, the boy was sent to school. There he mixed with bad children. He learnt to steal pens, pencils and books. He often got punishment for doing such bad deeds.

One day the teacher called her mother and told her all about her son. She felt hurt at the misdeeds of the boy. Reaching home she advised him a lot, but he did not care. He went on with his bad habits. He did turn his back on evil. So, he was turned out of the school.

Now the boy turned a wanderer. He cared little for his mother. As small evils lead to big evils, she took to thieving, drinking, gambling and pocket-picking. In due course, he became a notorious dacoit who formed his own gang. The police was after him like anything. He came to have a reward on his head.

At last the dacoit was arrested and put behind the bars. He was tried in the court for several crimes –thefts, robberies, murders and dacoits. The judges sat together to decide on his punishment. He was sentenced to imprisonment for life. Now he felt very unhappy. His mother came to see him in the prison. She burst into tears to see his son. But what could be done now? He had ignored her advice and taken to evil.

We must take a lesson from this story. We must learn obey all the good things that our parents and teachers tell us. We must not ignore them at all. We must turn away from evil and be a child of God.