Be Kind with your Freedom

This coming week is Election Day. Somedays it feels like the closer the election gets, the further it pushes us apart. I see and hear people make statements that infuriate me. I see and hear people make statements that make me want to cry.

For the most part, I hold my tongue. That’s how I was raised. I was taught that it was a privilege and a responsibility to educate yourself about candidates and to vote. I was also taught that your vote was your’s alone, you did not have to share how you voted with anyone if you didn’t want to. In fact, I think my parents didn’t always know how each other voted.

I was not taught to make judgements about people’s salvation according to whether they were Democrats or Republicans. I was not taught to treat someone poorly if they believed differently that me. It makes me sad when I see people treating each other so ugly, because it goes against all that Jesus said.

Galatians 5:13-15 is good advice election season. “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.”

God will not be surprised by whatever happens this week. God will still be God no matter who is in the White House or the State House. As we exercise our freedom to vote and to speak our minds, may we still love our neighbors, may we still be humble and kind.

Grace & Peace,
Pastor Cindy

Photo by Priyanka Puvvada on Unsplash