Elevated Friday, October 26th, 2018

Happy Elevated Friday! Today we highlight a story of civility and respect in, of all places, a political race. In Lamoille County, VT, Zac Mayo is the Republican and Lucy Rogers is the Democrat running for a state House seat. Both have been giving their all to the campaign, both visiting each of the 2000 houses in the district. In a time when political passions are running red hot around the country and fueling hate, division, and in some cases, violence, these two candidates have taken a very different stance towards each other. In a show of civility and a surprise to the crowd, they concluded their most recent debate with a duet musical performance – Zac on guitar and Lucy on cello. After the song, the two opponents shook hands and smiled, and in doing so, reminded the crowd – and the nation – what it means to be civil, honorable, and more concerned about the common good than individual power.

Politics can be poison when we are blinded by our own desires and cannot see the person on the other side – only their opinion. Walking with Jesus means turning your back on a life of pride, anger, resentment and sin. What value to God is it that you only walk with Jesus when it means loving those whom you agree with? In the Book of Luke, Jesus says, “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” When we proclaim the name of Jesus as Lord but then do not act as Jesus would, we cast doubt on His redemptive power to the skeptics all around us. Our testimony is our method of telling the world what Jesus has done for us, but if our words do not reflect our actions, then how will the world know Jesus’ true power? Today, reflect upon how you can better more powerfully love those who disagree with you, not to make yourself feel righteous, but in order to show them the power of your Savior.

“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” – Luke 6:32-36 NIV

Original Article:

https://bit.ly/2ApZdlt