Reflect on where you are today in your journey of Christian maturity compared to where you were when this module began. For this particular module, I am thankful that it is over! I took the first section of this course in 2009, and finished the second section almost three years later. I put it off for so long because the content overwhelmed me. In retrospect, I am glad that I did, because I was able to get three more years of maturity and study under my belt before I embarked on the second component of this course. Thankfully, the course work was not as overwhelming as I remember. Further, I found that things were clicking better for me. I don't know if it was a place of maturity, or if I was less stressed out, but I am thankful for taking this course and learning more about who God is and how much he truly loves me.

Have you been exposed to the idea that Satan is the personification of evil? What do you think of the idea? How do you respond? How much of what we think about the devil comes from Milton’s Paradise Lost? I have been exposed to this idea before, and I think a lot of what we see in evil is personified in Milton's portrayal of Satan. Satan had the arrogance to think he could overcome God; humanity has a flair for the prideful and arrogant. Satan is persuasive, as he depicted in the Biblical text as a sneaky snake that can convince humans of doing wrong while thinking it is all right. I think Milton does a great job of showing what truly is difficult about evil: That evil is a very tricky path of life that is filled with deception. Crops up in good intended people doing bad things, all in the name of what they think is right, even though they are very wrong. Far too often do we travel down the road of good intentions, simply seeking out our own best interests, only to fall into a trap of despair.

Reflect on a time when someone reached out to you in loving-kindness. When was the last time that you saw someone in need and responded in loving-kindness? I remember when I was younger, being ministered to by a youth leader. He genuinely was interested in me; he built a relationship with me, got to know me, shared himself with me. I think that is missing in a lot of relationships these days. Many people are hesitant to share themselves with others, I think for fear that they might lose something of themselves. This person looked in a different way, sharing himself for my sake. That is loving-kindness. I think when we are building relationships, we have a variety of opportunities to reach out to others in loving kindness. Too many times we are too busy to look around and see the need around us. I recently went and visited a friend in a nursing home, just to cheer them up. It was a blessing to me that I could be a blessing to them. Often times we don't recognizes the benefits we get of being a blessing to another.