If God exists and free will is available then why does he punish people for even the tiniest mistakes in life?

Question

I believe that God is real but this life is so touchy these days that i do not know if God is punishing you for something so stupid that it makes you think that God needs to get a life and worry about the really bad things in life

Answer 1

He does??? I wasn't really aware of that.

Answer 2

Technically this belong in the religion area but who cares? Free will doesn't mean everything you do is correct, that is absurd. It means you have the choice of doing what you want, and God gave us the conscience to know what is right and wrong. Think about it this way; if you did something wrong and were not punished for it, does that make it right? No, but if you were never punished how would you be able to tell what was right and what was wrong. Parents give their children the same choice, if they are good they will be rewarded and if they are bad they will be punished in hopes that they will learn from the experience. From what you say, I wonder if you ever thank him for rewarding you for being good and following his word. I may have got in trouble for some things that I have done, but I would never blame God for my punishment. I chose to do those things and I knew they were wrong, it was my fault and I must accept the consequences. However, I thank God for everything that has gone well in my life; I was blessed with a wonderful family, intelligence, and great friends. You may be punished for the wrongs that you do but you are also rewarded for the rights, learn from your mistakes and have faith in Him for he loves you.

Answer 3

For every action there is a reaction. What ever we do in ourlives either good or bad, it will always have a effect. What we do in the past makes our lives today. God is not punishing us. If we are suffering today, it is only the result of what we have done in the past. The law of cause and effect.

The Biblical God who give law for human to follow, are prevention for suffering. Gods law are guide so that we may not suffer from our own action. The world is suffering not because God is punishing it, but God allows it to happen, so we can learn from our own experience. Pain comes to us, so that we may change our ways.

Then why bad things happen to good people? it is another topic to be discuss.

Answer 4

God doesn't punish us..he did give us free will, so we are punished by our own mistakes...everyone is so quick to blame God for every single thing that goes wrong in their lives, when it's their own choices and decisions that caused the trouble in the first place!!!

Answer 5

He doesn't it Only seems that way. You make your choices . I guess what I am trying to say is he allows you to play with fire it's your own fault if you get burned. (depending on your religion You are or are not under grace that also makes a huge difference. If you are a christian than you need only ask for forgiveness. If you are a catholic then you need to repent. If you are a Jew... well from what I understand you are pretty much screwed. And if you are of a Muslim faith than if you "sin" than you go to hell but after an unknown amount of time you will get to go to heaven.) But all in all our punishment is hell, not broken legs or hearts those are just tests of faith.

Answer 6

How about trying to look at this
from a different perspective?

God gave us free will, That is true.

However,if you believe in God as a good
and positive being,
then it stands to reason that
Satan exists as well...
as an evil being capable of influencing
our thoughts and behaviors in negative ways
if we allow it.

When volatile emotions such as anger, depression, and violence override logic and good sense, and people behave irrationally, and in ways that are detrimental to themselves and others....
that stuff doesn't come from God's influence.

So the next time you're exercising your free will in a negative manner....stop and think about what you are about to do, or why you are acting that way.

Realize it, acknowledge it, and then ask God for His help in regaining your self-control.
Doing this consciously will help you to better understand the concept of free will, and how to use yours positively, by choosing wisely.

Answer 7

God is not as ruthless as you think. Actually, He really does love us and, because of that love, He gave up His only begotten son, Jesus. He even granted us free will to do whatever we please, but this is not without a corresponding consequence. Free will is granted not to do injustice to other people. Granting of free will implies that individuals should be held morally responsible or accountable for his actions. Ultimately, the purpose of free will is to do good to others and be able to share God's goodness to others.

If one's life has been miserable, let us not put the blame to God. It is our own doing why life has not been good to us. If we are born poor or disabled, let us not blame God in our condition. From the time we were born, God has endowed us with talents for us to use them wisely. He has equipped us with knowledge and free will in order for us to survive life on earth. Let us put every blessings that He has bestowed upon us to good use and share them to others. 'Cause by doing so, life will be better for everyone.

Answer 8

The issue is perspective. What may seem to us humans as a tiny mistake, God sees much more in. Remember, being God he has ultimate insight to what the truth is.

Let's take an example. A "white lie" is told. Let's make this lie, say it's Aunt Rose and her new hat. She asks us our opinion of her new hat, and we say, "Aunt Rose, I think you look fabulous in that hat." The truth is we think Aunt Rose looks like she came from a circus. But let's not say that, because that would hurt her feelings. It's only a white lie. Nobody has been hurt, nobody knows that we don't actually think the hat looks good on her, where's the harm?

First, the harm to Aunt Rose. We have told her that she looks good in something she doesn't look good in. We have bolstered her confidence in something that could get her ridicule, either to her face or behind her back as she wears this hat. This will lead to gossip about her, something that no one appreciates, and something that hurts someone's feelings far more than our opinion of a hat. Not only, but our white lie has inticed other people to fall into gossip, another sin which God commands us to avoid.

Let's look at the reason it offends God now. God has told us to love our neighbor, that includes Aunt Rose. What we said wasn't true, but it was well intended, so we decided that it would be okay to say. Unfortunately, there have been ramifications from this. Gossip of course can lead to many other sins, judgmentalism, prejudice, hate, and in some cases it has gone all the way to murder if you look at the course of history. Does that mean that every white lie will result in murder? No, but what it does show is that God had a reason for commanding us not to lie.

While we know that God has told us not to lie, we also know that we decided that in this instance it would be better to lie than tell the truth. What does that action say about what we think about our opinion and God's truth. It means that we are saying, if not in words, but in deed, that what we think is better than what God thinks. That is implied by saying that the lie was better than the truth. We know better than God. God is perfectly holy and just, and omniscient, and omnipotent. However, we have just said in our deed that God's way isn't perfect, we know better. We just said that God isn't perfect. If God isn't perfect, than he's not holy. We've also said with this lie that God isn't holy or perfect. Wait, not only this, but God tells us in the Scriptures that he is perfect and holy. Now not only have we said he's not perfect and holy, we've also said that he's a liar.

This "white lie" no longer says "well, it's just not to hurt her feelings." Now our tiny mistake has called the all-powerful creator of the universe a fraud. Suddenly it is seen as much more.

God seeks for us to be holy. We aren't. He seeks justice, and that doesn't mean what always seems nice. God's not God for the sake of being nice. He's terribly perfect, and it is something to be feared and revered. He loves us, which is how he can offer forgiveness even for the tiniest of mistakes, let alone the big ones. All sin is horribly evil in his eyes, there is no small sin to God. Indeed, the small sins can be the worse, because we are not repentant of them as we tend to be of the seemingly large ones.

Answer 9

God gave us all free will so we use it. We choose and decide What to do, but it is not God who punishes us. Ha ha, God has two hands, one is Jesus, the other Satan. Jesus our Savior, Satan our Executor. Sometimes we're not being punished, **** happens and we want to blame someone, who else is there to blame? But why listen to me, I'm a wiccan.

Answer 10

God does not punish people in this life. We will receive our punishment or reward after we die and meet Him face to face.

Answer 11

Who are you to tell your creator what to do - you feel like God - wanna take Him on in a battle? God gave us His Word in the Bible - in the end everyone - including you all powerful one - will face Him in judgment.

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