I don't know about you, but I've been very troubled by what I'm seeing across our nation in the past week. When demonstrations turn violent and become riots and destroy property and hurt people, that's wrong. There have been hundreds of hate crimes since the election. Hate crimes are wrong. Click on the following link for the story: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/hundreds-hate-crimes-reported-election-splc-n683761
Personally, on Facebook and other social media avenues, I've been shocked to see the hateful comments being used as carelessly as the two leading candidates used their words. Do we really want to continue that?
People are asking me how we can heal this nation? Here are three points to keep in mind in the coming weeks:
1) Be careful what you say. I am reminded of what it says in Ephesians 4:29, "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." Believe it or not, words have power. What you say influences people around you. Let's make sure that what we say benefits those who listen.
2) Pray for our nation and our communities every day. "I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people - for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth." (1 Timothy 2:1-4). I know of a few of our partners who have put "prayer for our nation" on their calendar every day. That's a great idea!
So join me in praying for our nation and our nation's current and future leaders. Join me in following Jesus more closely so that wounds will be healed, families will grow stronger and our communities will see what real peace, love and hope looks like.
3) Keep everything in perspective. Jesus said, "Can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?" (Matthew 6:27) The answer is? Nope. I can't. If anything, I actually subtract hours from my life when I worry. You do too. So don't worry. Instead, keep everything in perspective.
At the end of the day, sinful candidates were voted into office by sinful people like you and me. We may not agree with the outcome, but personally, I thank God for an opportunity to vote. There are billions of people around the globe who would love to get the chance to do what we did on November 8. Lest we forget, regardless of who the president is, all of us answer to Jesus. He is the real King. He is the One to whom I prayed that His will be done in this election. He is the One that I trust, not Trump or any of the other elected officials. People will always let us down at one time or another. Jesus never will.
As I wrote in my blog a couple of weeks ago, "Remember, the greatest good for all people occurred when Jesus died at the hands of a pagan governor named Pontius Pilate. Through Jesus' death and resurrection our sins are forgiven and our eternal home in heaven is guaranteed by faith, no matter who is in charge as governor or emperor or even president. If our all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-loving God could pull that off, then He can handle bringing good for His people from this election as well." (http://stmarkdepere.blogspot.com/…/…/decisionsdecisions.html) Jesus is still the only Savior of this world. Keep that in perspective.
I'd like to hear your thoughts on how we can contribute to healing our nation.
No comments:
Post a Comment