On Monday, April 16, 2007, 33 people were killed and others injured at Virginia Tech University at Blacksburg, Virginia, in the United States' deadliest campus shooting in the country's history. According to university officials and police officers, two people were killed at 7:15 a.m. at West Ambler Johnston Hall, a school dormitory. Two hours later, others were killed at Norris Hall—a building containing classrooms and faculty offices.

Bedlam reigned as the shooter armed with two handguns and a large amount of ammunition began indiscriminately killing everyone he saw. Some students barricaded the door of their classroom for protection after the shooter momentarily left; others jumped out of the second story of the building because the ground floor exit doors had been chained. Finally, as police closed in the shooter took his own life.

Our hearts mourn these innocent people who lost their lives in this senseless tragedy. Our prayers are that the families and friends of these victims will find peace in the wake of this carnage.

Following incidents like these most recent shootings, important questions are always raised. Why did the shooter do it? Why didn't the authorities do a better job of protecting everyone? Why didn't students have notification of the potential threat sooner? Tempers will rise and fingers will be pointed at just about everything possible.

Some will use this occasion to argue for more stringent gun control. Some will say that this is the price Americans pay for allowing people free access to guns. Some Americans will say that the freedom to own a gun outweighs the loss of life and that the real fault is with people—not guns.

Others will blame the university's leadership and the police, claiming that these authorities are responsible for many additional deaths because of not acting sooner or in a different way. And here the old cliché regarding hindsight being 20/20 will undoubtedly prove true. After a tragedy, everyone can think of things that might have thwarted the situation or lessened the impact.

While the questions noted are good ones to consider, the one issue relating to such tragedies that we can be sure the news media will not focus on is human nature, including our personal responsibility to control our actions. It is always easier to point out what others should have done than to consider that human nature—including ours—is the real culprit that will never be fully controlled without receiving help from God. Consider the insightful example of the first murder recorded in the Bible.

In Genesis 4 we read that Cain and his younger brother Abel both brought an offering to God, and that God respected Abel's offering but not Cain's (verses 1-5). What was the result? Cain lost it—that is, he lost control of his emotions and got so mad that he killed his brother (verse 8).

But before Cain killed Abel, God had a little talk with him saying, "'Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it'" (verses 6-7).

In this passage God was teaching Cain—and us today—that he and we are responsible for our thinking and our actions. We can't just get mad about something and go berserk. God told Cain—and us today—that if he and we do well, things will eventually work out. God also explained to Cain—and us today—that sin would always be there, beckoning us to do something crazy and stupid but that he and we needed to rule over it.

And herein is one of the great lessons to be learned from the Virginia Tech shootings. The sick thinking of just one individual can bring tragedy to a multitude of people. Therefore, we each have an enormous responsibility to rule over and subdue our own sinful thoughts.

Ruling over sinful thoughts is tough work. But it is something we can do with God's help. It is the personal challenge that few will associate with the Virginia Tech tragedy. It is the kind of thinking that God wants each of us to learn and practice. It is the way to think that Jesus Christ will begin teaching the whole world when He returns.

If you're up to that challenge and want to learn more about how you can please God by subduing sin in your thoughts, I invite you to request, download or read online our free booklets: Making Life Work and Transforming Your Life—The Process of Conversion.

Our hearts go out to those affected by this terrible tragedy. Their pain and heartache make us pray for the day when "God will wipe away every tear from their eyes" (Revelation 21:4). At times like these, our booklet Why Does God Allow Suffering? can be of help as well.