The Spiritual Benefits of Moral Dilemmas

By Doug Pedersen

What side are you on?

1.) Vaccinations
2.) Government spying
3.) Big Tech
4.) Defunding the police
5.) Critical Race Theory
6.) Doctor-assisted suicide
7.) Prison reform
8.) Ending the drug war
9.) Fossil fuels or renewable energy
10.) Roe vs. Wade

As the world turns, humanity spins around on its moral dilemmas. Ethical questions increase as generational shifts, technology advances, politics, global economics, and more evolve our world. Personal conflict and public debate are rampant. People’s anxiety and stress levels are at all-time highs. Many people are agitated in this climate.

Will it ever end?

Not likely. Nor is this the time for escapism. So, what’s a spiritual seeker to do? How do we determine the truth? Who is the authority? How can one person’s moral choice be another person’s moral crime? How does a polarized world affect us spiritually?

Emotional fitness and coherent living can alleviate the chronic stress and tension of the times. You will feel better. However, we must recognize that life’s moral dilemmas grow us spiritually. This article describes ethical dilemmas, why they are essential, and how you can use them to grow spiritually—thereby generating more harmony and quality in your life.

Table of Contents

What are moral dilemmas?
Why moral dilemmas are important
The spiritual benefits of moral dilemmas

What Are Moral Dilemmas?

Moral dilemmas are choices between right and wrong. They strike deep into a person’s value system. The choice a person makes is often the one they can live with, but neither outcome is ideal. Either option can trigger unpleasant feelings. Dictionary.com defines a moral dilemma as “a situation in which a difficult choice has to be made between two courses of action, either of which entails transgressing a moral principle.”

We find moral dilemmas in every walk of life. No category of modern living is exempt. Moral dilemmas exist in business, politics, science, and education. They involve people, animals, our relationships, and our behaviors. These problematic situations of right and wrong also occur in religion.

We know that severe dilemmas cause people stress, severe anxiety, and conflict with others. COVID-19 is a prime and timely example. Who gets a bed? Who receives a ventilator? Who do you save? How should the vaccine be distributed globally? The dilemmas go on and on. You get the idea.

Why Moral Dilemmas Are Important

We may not like confrontation with polarizing issues. It can be emotionally draining. However, having our principles tested is a spiritual function. This process stimulates our personality development. These moral dilemmas are inevitable and essential parts of evolving life.

Forces the Action

Moral dilemmas are dynamic and forceful by design—these predicaments between right and wrong force us to choose. We’re driven to act in one way or another, provided that we’re not chronically stressed and surrendered to moral omission.

Jesus’ parables are a perfect example. They show us that we have a choice to love and show mercy in everyday life. For example, the father chose compassion over indifference for his returning prodigal son. He redeemed his son—giving his best robe, sandals, and ring to the wasteful boy. The father chose to rejoice instead of criticizing and punishing. Likewise, the Good Samaritan showed mercy for the man who had “fell among thieves.” A priest and a Levite both had passed by with no offer of help for the fallen man. The Samaritan, however, stopped to care for his wounds, took him to a lodge, and paid for his care.

Expands Our Awareness

Making moral choices requires evaluating other, if not several, alternatives. Right or wrong. Good or bad. We receive feedback through the experience of these choices. This expands awareness and is the soil for insight and self-discovery. Greater understanding through experience is how virtues are learned and accepted.

My father can testify to this. He grew up on a farm in Nebraska. The closest town had less than two thousand people. During the 1950s and ‘60s, my dad was not exposed to or taught about diversity. He knew the world only through stereotypes. Just saying. However, you would see his love for people if you talked to him now—he’s in his seventies. His heart is warm and big. He is now aware of the truth: we are all created in the image of God. Brothers and sisters. The Spirit within him has ministered and expanded his awareness of the world as he’s gained experience and insight through life. It’s a beautiful thing.

The Spiritual Benefits of Moral Dilemmas

It’s through the battle that a warrior sustains her value. The battlefields for each of us—for our character growth—are the moral dilemmas we face. They are inevitable. This is how we develop the attributes of God (Urantia Book, 1955).

Courage

Facing adversity and overcoming upheavals breed strength of character. They’re how courage is instilled. Think of Nelson Mandela, Jesus of Nazareth, or the man who stood in front of the tank at Tiananmen Square. They demonstrated courage when it mattered the most.

Must you be persecuted to have courage? No, not like Jesus. However, you need to confront moral choices that force you to take a stand. You need to prove your beliefs to yourself and others. Repeatedly. Courage in the face of adversity is how you refine your values and make them stronger. It’s how you mature your motivations and intentions. Courage results from the eightfold path to the end of suffering the Buddha taught: right speech, right action, right livelihood, and more. This is spiritual work.

Don’t surrender to chronic stress. Never fear. Don’t take yourself off the battlefield. Engage and accommodate your conflicts from a coherent mental and emotional state. Resolve them peacefully and with an open heart. Let your courage become measured and decisive. Living your life with courage is living your life authentically. It is liberating and energizing. Courageous living is spiritual content and has value.

Hope

Raise your hand if you have trust issues.

Me too.

Many people don’t trust the government, which provides services to a free society. Many don’t trust the media, which exists to inform the truth. Many people don’t trust companies that exist to add value and improve the quality of life for people. Many people who don’t trust these institutions also don’t trust the people who do. Who’s right? Who’s on the side of virtue?

Who knows? It’s a moral dilemma.

You’re likely more trusting than you think. Consider this: many of us are believers. We believe in God. In salvation. In the afterlife. This requires trust.

This kind of trust is magnificent. To get to this level of trust, we must constantly face insecurity and uncertainty. We must question ourselves and others. We must see discrepancies, wonder, entertain new ideas, search, and seek. We must desire something better. We must ultimately hope.

Don’t be discouraged by our society’s current culture and climate. Don’t succumb to anxiety, pessimism, or negativity. This is not The End—the apocalypse. Humanity is not morally bankrupt. Hope for improvement instead. Hope for better times ahead. Meditate on hope. Hope is the spiritual benefit that results from the insecurities and uncertainties of moral dilemmas. It’s brilliant. With lasting hope, you will:

• Live your life with more peace, harmony, and quality
• See the good in other people and cooperate with them
• Seek God with all your heart, mind, and soul

Love of Truth

I knew it!

Have you ever said that? People love to be correct. We love it even more, when we are proven right--when we’re vindicated or aligned with the truth.

My son, Andrew, is on the cusp of this feeling as we prepare to celebrate Christmas. He’s ten years old. This year, he has a hunch that Santa isn’t real. You can see the twinkle of suspicion in his eyes. He’s uncertain where the gifts come from, so he’s covering all the bases. He wrote a letter to Santa, and he gave me a separate list of things that he labeled “Optional.”

The love of truth propels us to go wherever it leads. This is the motivation we need to follow our hearts. This motivation—intention—is spiritual content and has value. We will only do this by growing up in an environment in a world where error and falsehoods are probable. Again, this forces us to question and seek. It’s like gravity. We can’t resist it. We desire the truth. We need it. Require it. We love it.

Don’t worry about the world so much. Don’t let trying times kill your sense of adventure or make you timid or cynical. As we mature spiritually, the love of truth propels us to rely on and do the will of God—openly and freely. We find that this is the only oasis of certainty that we have (and need) in a world full of moral dilemmas, insecurity, and uncertainty.

Faith

What is faith?

Merriam-Webster calls it “complete trust.”

Hebrews 11:1 says, “…faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

The Urantia Book explains that “belief has attained the level of faith when it motivates life and shapes the mode of living.”

Faith is the substance, evidence, and motivation for the highest expressions of thought. Faith grows in our minds as we constantly confront and evolve what we believe. We can only have faith in what we believe. Moral dilemmas challenge our beliefs and expand them for good—quickly or slowly, but eventually. Steadfast faith is needed to evolve with God into more excellent forms of moral living.

Wayne Dyer said, “Live one day at a time, emphasizing ethics rather than rules.” Why? Because we live in a world where we do not see God materially. Very few perceive the indwelling Spirit we are all endowed with. We must advance through life by faith and by the revelation of truth. Why suffer and walk blindly through life? Imagine the faith of Jesus as he approached the cross and said, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” Engage your dilemmas. Be guided by faith. Faith is the key, and the cost, to living fully among the Family of God.

Pleasure

No one takes pleasure in moral dilemmas. Putting a drug abuser in jail for life seems harsh. Watching one snatch a purse doesn’t seem right either. Terminating a pregnancy is upsetting. We hate seeing innocent people die in terrorist attacks. Should the government spy on Americans to prevent them? Adultery isn’t something people rejoice over.

What’s my point?

We’re wired for happiness. We prefer and crave it. Pleasure is satisfying. However, to see, feel, and know joy, the possibility of pain and suffering must exist. It’s the contrast that motivates. As we mature spiritually, we can successfully navigate life's moral dilemmas (painful experiences). This is spiritual work.

Don’t let the stressors of life wrap you in pain. Bind you. Don’t be discouraged or aloof. Hope is on the way. Practice emotional fitness—access coherent living. Pray for greater truths and intentions to be realized in your life. Doing good feels good in your heart and soul. Moral living is the premier technique for happiness. It’s a divine pleasure. From this place, the Spirit of God will evolve more of His attributes in you. You will soon find joy in the following:

•   The spirit of forgetting self
•   Devotion to the duty of moral living
•   Service to others
•   The reach for better things; ultimately seeking God

Final Thoughts

Ram Dass said, “So I see that the only rule of all human relations…is to put your consciousness in a place where you are no longer attached to a polarized position even though you may, by the nature of the game, be forced to play out a polarizing role.”

Thank you, Ram!

As spiritual seekers, we are best when detached from the emotional strain of polarizing dilemmas. Our relationships are better. We are authentic. We see that this time is the middle of life—not The End. The Spirit within ministers and guides us.

Don’t succumb to chronic stress. Don’t succumb to moral omission. Courage, hope, love of truth, faith, pleasure, and more are the spiritual benefits of ethical dilemmas. These are the character attributes that will bring you peace and harmony. These are the traits of God. They will help you see God. They will help guide you. May you receive them with grace and appreciation. May we never forget: the Family of God is alive and well. You are secured in it.