All actions for mankind begin as a thought. When we live within creation, in flow, we are able to draw from its limitless potential and imagine great things. The words of Christ echo this sentiment: “But with God all things are possible.” – Matthew 19:26.

Humans, of course, have limitations in this natural world, as we are not God, but we carry His essence—and that is what gives the power of imagination. With this power, however, comes the ability to form evil. This is the origin of what we call the uncreated. In the beginning, all things operated in divine order. God loved us so much that He gave us the power of free will. With it, we could choose to operate within His order—or not. This connects to the ideas discussed in the earlier contentment vs. complacency post. When we reject divine order, we choose rebellion—and this is when evil is first conceived.

Not all evil presents itself as evil at first. Often, it appears as curiosity, drawing attention away from order. This is necessary for evil because it cannot exist without creation. That is why it is, in nature, “uncreated.” Uncreated things carry no essence of God, and good intentions are absent. Instead, they often masquerade as good to gain acceptance. Evil is viral, seeking survival by any means—even at the cost of its host.

When humans act strictly for selfish reasons, they participate in this evil nature. Recall when Jesus calls Peter “Satan” for attempting to convince Him not to do the will of His Father—a selfless act essential for the world. This illustrates the importance of distinguishing between objective and subjective perceptions of evil. Evil will attempt to manipulate, convincing individuals to look out only for themselves, while its own survival is the true aim.

Most people rely heavily on personal feelings when judging situations or others. This approach is flawed. As Scripture says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.” – Jeremiah 17:9. Allowing emotions to dictate thought gives evil the opportunity to take root before manifesting outwardly. Discernment is necessary: is something objectively evil, or does it only feel so? God is the ultimate judge and can guide us in recognizing what is truly good or evil. Taking matters entirely into our own hands leads to the tragedies of the world.

It bears repeating: humans are not intrinsically evil. We assume evil identities. No one is immune to corruption while placing themselves as the ultimate authority. Reasoning and hearts are flawed when operating outside divine order. This is why it is critical not to elevate oneself above the highest authority. Yet, blind adherence to collective ideals is also unwise. An individual can be wrong, a group can be blind—but only the Spirit of the highest order guides in all truth. – John 16:13

As the week unfolds, pause to consider the origin of your actions. In moments of choice, ask yourself:

• “Are these thoughts truly my own?”
• “Am I reacting to sustain myself, or acting for the whole?”

Remember: evil exists only when allowed to. Even if a moment of evil occurs, it does not define the actor. Evil is uncreated; it requires participation to survive. Recognizing this truth diminishes its control. Evil is at most a moment of vulnerability manifesting as an unbecoming act. The most powerful response is not to dwell, but to move forward and create good.

In the creation story we are given an account of how the known universe was made. But we’re also given deep concepts worth exploring. Scripture tells us that God created everything, and the last thing He created was mankind. The language used is poetic and intentional: everything God made is called “good.”

Yet when we look at the world through our own eyes, everything does not appear good. In fact, a pessimistic view sees mostly what is broken. Does that mean the creation story is just a fairytale meant to comfort children? I don’t think so. I believe it offers hints about how our universe actually works.

We live in a world that demands evidence before belief. But who decides what is “real”?
If it’s the individual, then reality is shaped entirely by mindset.
If it’s a group in authority, then reality becomes a collective agreement we submit to.

But as we will discover, not all real things require evidence — at least not evidence that the average mind recognizes — and much exists far beyond our understanding.

One of the biggest questions people ask, regardless of religion, spirituality, or atheism, is whether God is real. And if so, the next question naturally follows:
“If God is real, why does He allow evil?”

Today we want to go deeper. The real question is:
“Did God create evil?”

Sit with that for a moment.

The creation account says God created all things and that all He created was good. Yet evil clearly exists, so where did it come from?
If we reason through this carefully, we find that evil is not created — evil is uncreated.

In the creation story we are told that man was “formed.” Humanity came into being only after the combination of dust (matter) and spirit (breath). This choice of words matters. It shows there’s a difference between something being created out of nothing and something being formed from what already exists.

This distinction leads us toward understanding the true origin of evil.

In many esoteric traditions, all things begin in the mind — a principle known as mentalism. When paired with the principle of correspondence (“as above, so below”), we might say symbolically that the universe is the thought of God. Scripture tells us we are made in the “image of God,” which means, like any child, we carry traits of our Parent.

This doesn’t mean we are God — only that our natural impulse is to create.
But unlike God, we cannot create from nothing. We can only form what is already here.

This is why evil is not created; it is formed by those who perform evil acts. Evil feels unnatural to us because it goes against our original design. Evil is simply the absence of creation — a distortion, not a genesis.

Evil often looks like creation because it borrows from creation. It uses what’s already good as a host. But evil forms itself when we become consumers instead of creators — when we take in more than we give, when we destroy more than we build, when we reject the good that was already given to us.

This is why we must remember:
Our actions do not define who we are.
We define our actions.

A person can commit evil without becoming evil. But if someone fully aligns themselves with the spirit of destruction — refusing good again and again — they eventually fall into it. It is continual rejection, not a single act, that traps a person.

We live in a troubled world, but evil can only continue if we allow it to.
Even a strong sense of justice can blind us. Sometimes in fighting for our rights or the rights of others, we close our ears to anyone who disagrees — and this is exactly what evil wants. Evil thrives when we become fractured, complacent, and convinced our narrow view is the only one.

Human beings are not intrinsically bad. We were created good.
We are capable of both good and evil — and we must choose good.
This means our struggle is never truly with another person.
Our real battle is with something far deeper, something ancient, something that fights for survival within us.

This battle existed long before us and will continue long after we are gone.
But if we accept this truth, we can begin to heal.

This week we will explore how to recognize the difference between good and evil — between creation and destruction, between the formed and the unformed.

As we end today’s post, we invite you to reflect:
In the struggle you’re facing right now, are you being a creator or a consumer?