Cause and effect, sowing and reaping, yen and yang, karma; throughout the world it is commonly realized there is a pattern for why things happen. Science called it "cause and effect" and it is taught that is equal. Though in life it doesn't always seem as being equal. However, is it real? and why doesn't it always seem equal?
To answer the first question, I believe it is real in this universe. Empirically science tests it and sees it as real. Life experience and religious traditions claim it's reality though its effects are at times strangely defined.
Jesus in the sermon on the mount gives a great example of what Christians call sowing and reaping when he says that think about evil is the same as doing the evil. Why can he say this? Because what a persons plants is what will grow. It's cause and effect. Unless actions are taken to react to an thought it will grow. Thoughts of sexual impurity lead to acts of impurity. Thoughts of hate lead to acts of hate. You can't undo it.
If you buy a home which someone has allowed mice to live in you can get rid of them but it requires a reaction to the situation. We all have inherited a broken home. The Bible teaches us it is original sin. If we don't deal with it then things will only get worse. Some people clean up parts of the home and leave parts to the mice. Some try all kinds of methods to get rid of them some work good, some better and some not at all.
There are people who both try and get rid of the vermin but also leave opportunity for them to grow at the same time. These people can work hard trying to get rid of their problem but since if they don't change their ways the problem will be unchanged no matter how hard they try. These hard-working people either don't have the tools to change, the knowledge of what needs to change. or they might truly be unable to do what is needed (a person with broken fingers can't set a mousetrap). They can be very sincere people but they are missing out. Also, there are some which refuse to use some methods. These ones may have good logical reasons or just emotional reasons, but they seem good to them. If you're a neighbor you try to help. You give advice, training, assistance in other ways but you do what you can as long as they will let you. Of course, if your rodent problem is out of control, perhaps you should deal with it first.
Jesus taught we have a problem. This problem is sin and its growing. Jesus comes to help deal with it and gives us the tools to clean up the problem. Jesus moves in and helps us clean up. The problem is that many times we work against Jesus. Jesus is far more patient than us. He will abide, trying to clean up the place, until he is thrown out. The thing about it we may never say, get out, but we will do it just the same.
Jesus will change our actions, teach us how to do things differently and prepare us for a home without the rats. He will also help us make improvement on things in our home. Often he does these things at the same time. The great thing also is as we fix up our problems those around us have inspiration to improve and they don't have to worry about your mice visiting their homes.
However, if your neighbor has created a huge breeding ground for cockroaches you will get them no matter what you do on your property. Just as your doing good helps your neighbors, their actions affect you. Here we have moved from personal action and reactions to how the actions of those around us affect us. We can move and sometimes it is a great option. The dope addict would do well to move away from the temptation. However, this isn't always an option. Sometimes moving only takes you to someplace worse. In this place, the actions of others have affected you. In this situation, you can continue to fight to keep them from being any worse or you can give up. For many giving up seems the only option, why fight? Here Jesus can help just as he did before and it will make a difference. Will it be enough to change the world around you? Maybe not but it will make a difference.
I had a friend once who had this bug problem. If I had visited him I might have concluded he wasn't dealing with it. I could say, he isn't really trying, but I knew better because we talked about it. Part of me thought (at times) if you just did more you could get rid of them, but I was wrong. The more I learned the more I realized how wrong I was. Finally, he put pressure on his neighbor and when the dump next door got cleaned up the problem ceased. In the end, his actions were vital, but it was his neighbor's actions which stopped the problem.
We live in a world like my friend. Some of the places are pretty good, others are horrible. Some have the equivalent of mice, others rats, and cockroaches, but we all need Jesus to help us. Without him, we are lost. We can sometimes help others and others can help us, sometimes we can't. At times, we need to worry about our rats and not the neighbor's mice. We always need to be compassionate, because none of us are without a pest problem at sometimes in our lives and if we aren't careful they might return so we need not be proud. The situation in each of us and inside our homes are different, this is why we leave the judging to God because only Jesus knows if he still has a place in someone else's home.
