The Pains of Hell

   Many would like to believe that hell doesn’t exist.  They don’t want to recognize that there is a price for sin and the misuse of their free will.  Some would argue that hell can’t exist because a merciful God would never condemn someone to hell.

   To believe in good demands a belief in evil.  To believe in the joys of heaven demands a belief in the pains of hell.  Otherwise there is no point to Christianity.  If there is no hell Jesus was a liar and as such could not be the Messiah.  He spoke often of the punishment of hell in His ministry.  If it were not so He would not have said it.

   Those who say that a merciful God would not condemn anyone to hell are correct.  It is not God who condemns, but the sinner who chooses hell.  God, in His mercy, offers a lifetime of opportunities to know the joys of heaven.  It is the sinner, by the misuse of free will and sin, who fails to accept God’s offer.  By refusing the offer of salvation the sinner condemns themself to hell.

   I wrote recently that I believe heaven may differ in some ways for each of us.  God knows what brings us the most happiness and joy and this is what we will know in heaven.  Perhaps hell is the same in that respect.  One’s personal hell may be, at least in part, the result of what they fear or hate most.

   To me, the greatest pain of hell would be separation from God for all eternity.  The realization that I had, through my own fault, rejected Him for the supposed pleasures of sin would only add to the pain of hell.

   I have been blessed in so many ways.  God has given me love, mercy and forgiveness.  He has given me a path to eternal happiness.  He has also blessed me with the fear of hell separated from Him.  For all these reasons I choose to live my life for Him.  Though I will at times fail, I will never give up.  I will return to Him in sorrow and repentance for my sins, confident of His endless mercy.

Lord save me from the pains of hell.

Give me the strength to live only for You.

May Your Holy Spirit be my guide,

Leading me home to You.

Amen