Hell is Self Chosen

Hell is not full of people whom God rejected — it is full of people who rejected God. God never rejects us, for His mercy is infinite and His desire is that all be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4). To end up in hell is not to be cast there by a cruel Judge, but to remain forever in the tragic consequence of saying “no” to the One who is Love.

As St. John Paul II taught, hell is not so much a punishment imposed from the outside as it is the result of freely and definitively rejecting God’s mercy. God respects our freedom — He does not force Himself upon us, nor does He impart Himself on us like the devil does. The devil manipulates, deceives, and ensnares, but God gently calls, invites, and waits. He simply leaves us with the free will to choose: Him or the devil, light or darkness, life or death (cf. Deuteronomy 30:19).

It is we who must desire to be saved by Him. Salvation is God’s gift, but a gift only transforms us when it is freely received. Hell, therefore, is the soul’s eternal “I will not serve.”

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