Good vs. Evil: A Spiritual Perspective on Judgment and Divine Energy
Originally published May 24, 2020; thoughtfully updated in 2026.
Today, I’m going to ask you to consider two very large spiritual concepts.
The first is that all things are energy.
The second is that all energy comes from Creator—from Source, God, or the Divine—and therefore all energy carries a divine origin.
From this higher spiritual perspective, energy itself is neither good nor evil. It simply is.
That can be a difficult idea to hold, especially when we experience pain, injustice, or harm. Yet exploring it may help us understand judgment, forgiveness, and healing in a new way.
When an Experience Feels Like Evil
Imagine that you are held up at gunpoint. You are frightened, and your life is threatened as the person demands your wallet.
Inside that wallet, you carry not only the last few dollars you have, but also the only photograph you have left of your grandmother who passed away years ago. Perhaps it holds a picture of a deceased brother, sister, child, friend, or parent—an irreplaceable memento of priceless value.
As human beings, this experience feels like far more than an exchange of energy. It feels like an attack, a violation, and a profound loss.
It may be nearly impossible to see anything divine within the aggression, fear, and pain of such a moment.
Our Natural Response to Harm
We might label the crime—or the person who committed it—as evil. We may begin to hate the person who harmed us, wish them suffering, or hope they are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
These are understandable human responses.
When we have been frightened, violated, or wounded, the mind looks for a way to make sense of what happened. It separates the world into good and bad, innocent and guilty, light and darkness.
Discernment matters. Accountability matters. Protecting ourselves and others matters.
But spiritual discernment does not have to become condemnation.
Judgment and the Divine Perspective
When we label something as entirely good or entirely evil, we enter the realm of judgment. From the human perspective, judgment can seem necessary. From a divine perspective, however, there may be a larger truth that we cannot yet see.
From this higher view, everything is energy—and no energy exists outside the Divine.
This does not mean that harmful behavior should be excused, tolerated, or allowed to continue. It does not mean remaining in an unsafe situation or abandoning appropriate boundaries and consequences.
It means asking whether condemning another person’s entire being helps us heal—or simply binds us more closely to the energy of what happened.
“What You Damn, Damns You Back”
During a channeling session, spiritual teacher and author Paul Selig shared a teaching from his guides that deeply affected me:
“What you damn, damns you back.”
They also taught:
“What you call darkness places you beside it.”
And:
“There can be nothing outside of God.”
These teachings invite us to consider what happens within us when we condemn another person. When we remain consumed by hatred, we continue to stand beside the very energy we wish to escape.
If we desire to transform something—to lift it, heal it, or raise its vibration—we must eventually meet it from a different level of consciousness.
We cannot create transformation while remaining completely entangled in the energy of condemnation.
You can learn more about Paul Selig and his channeled teachings on theofficial Paul Selig website.
Moving Beyond Good and Evil
This is not an easy spiritual practice.
When we have been wronged, when someone we love has been hurt, or when tragedy enters our lives, the human self naturally moves into fear, anger, grief, and judgment.
Those emotions are not spiritual failures. They are part of being human, and they need to be felt and processed with honesty and care.
Yet another part of us—the divine self—may eventually become capable of seeing beyond the immediate story. It may recognize the energy within the situation without defining the whole of another person as irredeemably evil.
Forgiveness Cannot Be Forced
We have all heard stories of people who endured tremendous harm and eventually found their way to profound forgiveness.
Their forgiveness did not mean that the harm was acceptable. It did not erase the need for accountability or require renewed contact with the person who hurt them.
Forgiveness was an inner release.
It allowed them to stop carrying the energy of the harm within themselves. In doing so, they reclaimed their peace, their power, and their connection to the Divine.
This kind of forgiveness cannot be demanded or rushed. It may arise only after anger, grief, fear, and trauma have been given the time and support they require.
Can Pain Become a Source of Transformation?
Return for a moment to the example of the stolen wallet.
Perhaps the experience, as painful and frightening as it is, inspires you to organize a neighborhood watch group. Years later, that group may help protect a young woman walking home alone at night.
Perhaps you petition the city to install better street lighting.
Perhaps you create a support group for people who have survived similar experiences.
The original harm does not suddenly become good. But your response to it creates something healing.
In this way, painful experiences can become catalysts for awareness, compassion, service, and change. We may not find divinity in the harmful act itself, but we may discover the divine within our capacity to respond.
Finding the Sacred Without Denying the Pain
Seeing the Divine in all things does not require us to deny our anger, hurt, or fear.
We still have to do the work.
We still have to feel what happened, tend to our wounds, establish boundaries, seek justice when appropriate, and allow ourselves to heal.
But over time, we may become able to hold a larger perspective. We may begin to see that the person who harmed us is more than their worst action—and that we are more than what happened to us.
Perhaps the spiritual invitation is not to call harm good.
Perhaps it is to remember that even in the presence of darkness, nothing is beyond the possibility of transformation.
A Reflection for Your Spiritual Practice
Consider an experience you have judged as entirely bad or evil.
Without excusing the behavior or denying its impact, ask yourself:
Questions for Reflection
What energy am I still carrying from this experience?
Is my judgment protecting me, or is it keeping me connected to the harm?
What boundaries or actions are necessary for my well-being?
What healing, wisdom, or meaningful change might eventually emerge?
Can I remain open to the presence of the Divine, even when I do not yet understand?
You do not need to force an answer.
Simply allow the questions to rest within you.
Sometimes spiritual awakening begins not with certainty, but with a willingness to see through a wider lens.
