Good vs Evil
Devotions with Pastor Jason Lim

One of the classic stories of our times is “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”. This book has captured the imagination of millions because it tells the intriguing story of how a good Dr. Jekyll and an evil Mr. Hyde coexist within the same person. It touches on the age-old belief of the inner battle between good and evil. This story is said to be the inspiration for characters like the Incredible Hulk and Two-Face in Batman.

When asked about the story’s inspiration, author Robert Louis Stevenson attributed it to a unique characteristic of human nature. He learned that there is inside every child of God, a Beast. “Every saved person has a New Nature and an Old Nature. I find that there is always a struggle with the ‘Beast' that lives within me,” he said.

The apostle Paul wrote of something similar. “For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.” (Romans 7:19-20) Here, Paul speaks of his personal struggle within. I am sure that every Christian is able to relate to Paul’s struggle of wanting to do good yet finding himself or herself doing evil. This is because our old nature wants to sin and loves it, but our new spiritual life hates sin and loves what God loves. The new nature that is given during our second birth is always at war with our fleshly desires, just like the inner battles between Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Understanding this struggle helps us to recognize the need to exhort saints. Mutual encouragement is important among our fellow believers. It is not good to struggle alone and I believe the reason Christianity is struggling today is that many choose to fight sin alone. Since we know how hard it is to live with these two opposing natures, we should encourage and edify other Christians. I hope the church as a body of believers will unite together in true fellowship, coming alongside each other in their personal struggles and spiritual walk.