> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://amemamem.com.br/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Dilemmas - URL: https://amemamem.com.br/en/dilemmas/ - Published: 2025-10-18T16:15:02.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-09T01:04:40.000Z - Description: In biblical terms: • Problems are overcome with wisdom. • Dilemmas are overcome with surrender. Solomon asked for wisdom to solve problems. But Jesus, in Gethsemane, surrendered to cross through a dilemma. - Author: Airton Humber - Tags: #en, #de-dilemas ## 🕊️ The Spiritual Value of Dilemmas Dilemmas are inner crossroads: places where the heart and the mind seem to look in opposite directions. There the Spirit teaches us to **discern**, and not only to decide. While the world pressures us to *decide quickly*, the Spirit invites us to *discern calmly*. Decision is an act of the will; discernment is a movement of the soul. In decision, we choose what seems best; in discernment, we perceive what comes from God. ## Problem x Dilemma Before understanding the spiritual value of dilemmas, it is essential to distinguish: a **problem** has a practical solution; a **dilemma** asks for spiritual discernment. | Aspect | Problem | Dilemma | | -------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | Nature | Practical, objective | Moral and spiritual | | Field | External | Internal | | Typical answer | Solution | Discernment | | Tool | Reasoning, technique, action | Conscience, prayer, Spirit | | Example | Resolving a conflict, paying a debt, changing a tire | Telling the truth or staying silent; forgiving or protecting yourself; choosing between two good paths | | Result | Solving something | Becoming someone | | In the Bible | Solomon asks for wisdom to solve problems ([1 Kings 3](https://www.bibliaonline.com.br/nvi/1rs/3?ref=amemamem.com.br)) | Jesus surrenders in Gethsemane to cross through a dilemma ([Luke 22:42](https://www.bibliaonline.com.br/nvi/lc/22/42?ref=amemamem.com.br)) | > **In biblical terms:** > • Problems are overcome with **wisdom**. > • Dilemmas are overcome with **surrender**. > > Solomon asked for wisdom to solve problems. But Jesus, in Gethsemane, surrendered to cross through a dilemma. ## The dilemma as a passage between the right and the good The dilemma arises in the **change of level** between “right/wrong” (the field of the Law) and “good/evil” (the field of the Spirit). The Law shows what is right, but it does not change the heart. The Spirit reveals what is good, and transforms the inner being. The Pharisee did what was right without love; the tax collector recognized the evil in himself, and was justified ([Luke 18:9-14](https://www.bibliaonline.com.br/nvi/lc/18/9-14?ref=amemamem.com.br)). Adam wanted to define good and evil on his own; Jesus gave his own will to the Father. The dilemma is the gateway where the human will surrenders to the divine will. ## When evil becomes law We live in a time when evil no longer hides: it is justified, applauded and, finally, **legalized**. The so-called “Overton Window” describes this slide from the unthinkable to the acceptable. In Eden, the serpent did not deny God, he only *changed the perception of evil* ([Gen 3:4](https://www.bibliaonline.com.br/nvi/gn/3/4?ref=amemamem.com.br)). > “We know that we are from God, and that the whole world is under the power of the evil one.” ([1 John 5:19](https://www.bibliaonline.com.br/nvi/1jo/5/19?ref=amemamem.com.br)) • “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil.” ([Isa 5:20](https://www.bibliaonline.com.br/nvi/is/5/20?ref=amemamem.com.br)) Here the **System of this world** comes in: the set of structures that seeks to resolve everything through laws, policies and arguments. It manifests **mainly in the public spheres**, laws, institutions, decisions and speeches that shape collective life. The System tries to convert *spiritual dilemmas* into mere *social problems*, to make it seem that everything is solved without God. When evil is legalized, the System grows stronger; when good falls silent, the System perpetuates itself. And it reacts against the awakened conscience: it wants results, not repentance; control, not discernment; the appearance of good, not the transformation of the being. ## Three levels of human dilemmas 1. **Between good and evil**, we know what is right, but the heart leans toward the wrong ([Rom 7:19](https://www.bibliaonline.com.br/nvi/rm/7/19?ref=amemamem.com.br)). 2. **Between right and right**, two good paths; we need to discern what comes from the Spirit. 3. **Between self and the other**, renouncing oneself in order to truly love. The Bible shows that the dilemma is never the problem, the problem is **how we react** to it. Abraham: reason or trust in God. Joseph: revenge or forgiveness. Jesus in Gethsemane: “not my will, but yours” ([Luke 22:42](http://bibliaonline.com.br/nvi/lc/22/42?ref=amemamem.com.br)). ## The dilemma is not weakness > “What I want to do I do not do; and what I hate, that I do.” ([Rom 7:15](https://www.bibliaonline.com.br/nvi/rm/7/15?ref=amemamem.com.br)), “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” ([Rom 7:25](https://www.bibliaonline.com.br/nvi/rm/7/25?ref=amemamem.com.br)) The dilemma is a sign of conscience: the light has begun to expose the inner confusion. It is the ground where grace works so that [Christ may be formed in us](https://amemamem.com.br/cristo-nova-geracao/). ## Where there is a dilemma, there is formation > “This is the way, walk in it.” ([Isa 30:21](https://www.bibliaonline.com.br/nvi/is/30/21?ref=amemamem.com.br)) The dilemma is the school of maturity: *seeing before acting*. To discern is not to choose between right and wrong, but between **good and better**, between **impulse and Spirit**. ## The living sacrifice: the answer to the dilemma > “Therefore, I urge you… offer yourselves as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your reasonable worship… be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may be able to test and approve what God’s will is, his good, pleasing and perfect will.” ([Rom 12:1-2](https://www.bibliaonline.com.br/nvi/rm/12/1,2?ref=amemamem.com.br)) “Living sacrifice” is not a poetic metaphor: it is **conscious surrender** in the middle of the conflict. The dilemma is not resolved without pain, because it involves the death of the ego and the birth of the new being. The mind suffers because it does not understand; the body, because it feels the weight; the soul, because it needs to surrender. But in that pain, the Spirit generates life and renews the mind. > “The sufferings of the present time cannot be compared with the glory that will be revealed in us.” ([Rom 8:18](https://www.bibliaonline.com.br/nvi/rm/8/18?ref=amemamem.com.br)) ## Peace in the midst of the dilemma People are surprised by the peace I have lived, even in the midst of tribulation, But this peace is not the absence of pain; it is the presence of Christ. Perhaps because, in the eyes of the world, suffering and peace seem opposites, but they are not. > “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives.” ([John 14:27](https://www.bibliaonline.com.br/nvi/jo/14/27?ref=amemamem.com.br)) • “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds…” ([Phil 4:7](https://www.bibliaonline.com.br/nvi/fp/4/7?ref=amemamem.com.br)) The world’s peace is fragile; it depends on circumstances. Christ’s peace is firm; it is born of surrender. I did not find this peace outside the pain, but **within it**: the fight stopped being mine. The dilemma between resisting and trusting became communion. Today I understand that suffering is not the absence of God, it is the ground where He reveals Himself with the most tenderness. It is there that the soul learns true rest: knowing that the body may falter, but the spirit remains kept in Him. This is the peace the world does not understand, and that no system can take away. The peace of one who surrendered to the Father’s will, and discovered, in the midst of the dilemma, Christ himself dwelling within. ### How to cross through a dilemma (simple steps) - **Pray** (an honest, short conversation): Seeking to listen - **Be silent**: to calm the heart - **Word**: reflect, asking for light. - **Counsel**: talk with someone mature in the faith. - **A small act of obedience today**: one concrete, humble and faithful step. ### Prayer [The Lord’s Prayer](https://www.bibliaonline.com.br/nvi/mt/6/9-15?ref=amemamem.com.br)