2 My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. 2 He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.
3 And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. 4 If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. 5 But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. 6 Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.
1 John 2:6
Dear God, there are a lot of politicians right now claiming to know you, but their fruit suggests otherwise. I live in Texas, and the Republican and the Democrat running for Senate both claim to know you. One of them seems to exhibit bad fruit but proports to share more of my theology and belief about you. Whether he follows that theology or not is another story, but his words align more with me in some areas of moral code. The other has seemingly good fruit, and claims to love and know you. The problem with him is that some of his words indicate he and I have differences in opinion on some areas of moral code.
Some people tell me that I cannot possibly vote for one because his spoken moral code is bad, regardless of the seemingly good life that he leads. His opponent will vote more in line with my moral values regardless of whether or not he lives by them. Others will tell me I cannot vote for the other because he because, regardless of what he says, his actions are so far against any fruit that would grow from you that he cannot be trusted. His corruption is absolute and complete. You don’t get good people in politics by voting for bad people.
I am discussing this issue because of the passages above. Which of these men knows how to repent? Which one is a “liar and is not living in truth”?
And now I turn the question to myself. How am I doing? Forget the politicians. I have one vote, a very small sphere of influence, and I can wrestle with it all I want but at the end of the day my vote won’t move the needle. No, my eyes need to be focused on any logs that are obscuring them before I start dealing with other people’s specks. Do I obey your commandments? Do I repent well when I realize I’ve sinned? A couple of days ago, I told you I had made a mistake in talking with a friend and given him a false idol to worship. I not only repented to you, but I repented to him as well. I hope I’m good at this.
Father, give me eyes to see, ears to hear, and a discerning heart. Help me to love. Help me to worship you well. Help me to represent you to the world so that others might find the narrow path and find your light, peace, and joy–regardless of their circumstances.
I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,
Amen
