COMPROMISE
A Seed Sown and Cultivated
Exactly seven years ago today, I shared my thoughts on freedom as it relates to the political and social climate in 2013. Going back and reading it again today brought things into perspective … a seed of compromise was sown and has been watered and nurtured. The result is what we’re seeing today is happening, not just in the United States but throughout much of the world.
From July 4, 2013
Here are the thoughts rambling thru my head/heart this morning as I consider 2 Corinthians 3:17 (“Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”). As I listen to the news and read the headlines, I am seeing a pattern–one that bears some consideration. Those nations of the earth who are known to be anything but Christian are oppressed and the people live with anything but Freedom. As our own country spirals down the path of compromise and “political correctness”, we are seeing more and more of our own freedoms taken away. Consider for a moment that our military chaplains no longer have the right to preach Jesus Christ to those desperately needing answers and help while fighting a physical and spiritual enemy. Think about the fact that laws are being enacted robbing business owners of the right to hold to their convictions regarding birth control and abortion. This list has only begun, but it seems there is a pattern here … as the Spirit of the Lord is being harnessed and eradicated from public forums, the freedoms this country was formed to grant to its citizens are slowly being taken away.
What will the end result be? As the Lord is removed and denied a position of honor and respect in our government and public offices, this country will become more and more like those nations who totally deny the Lordship of Jesus Christ. We’ve been told we are no longer a Christian nation … we are seeing that we are soon to no longer be a free nation.
Just thinking this morning and praising God for the freedoms we still have while praying for a revival of Truth and a return to the Biblical precepts on which this country was established.
Lord, have mercy on us and lead this country back to a place of honor and respect for Your Word, Your Lordship, and Your Sovereign Reign. Amen!
“Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” (2 Cor 3:17)
It doesn’t take much to recognize that we are reaping the reward for the decline of Godliness and patriotism (and, yes, I used both words in the same sentence) in our nation. But the trend is not just localized to this land from sea to shining sea. We’re seeing this same trend escalating in countries where Godlessness abounds. Oh, yes, every nation, culture and people group has a “god” but the problem is Godlessness — failing to acknowledge and esteem the Most High God, the ONE TRUE LIVING GOD!
Rather than being a nation that sets an example to the world of the power of God to lead, bless and prosper a nation, the country I love is losing its edge, and losing it fast! The violence splattered all over the media (news, social media, radio, television, printed, etc.) shows the United States of America is a country in trouble with anger, hatred, division, violence, destruction … a country in trouble because loving our neighbor as ourselves has become old fashioned and out of sync with the newest trends. We are growing into a land producing and reproducing selfish and self-serving motives. Rather than looking at the good in our neighbor, we only see their faults and their failures to make us feel good about ourselves or justify our own self-centered thinking. Worse, we see color. We see political sides. We see gender. We fail to see people as those created in God’s own image for a purpose far beyond race, politics, physical or social differences. We see fields of people through eyes of bias, prejudice and pride … fields of people who (like ourselves) have been cultivated to reproduce weeds rather than trees with deep roots able to withstand the storms in life.
Let’s take some time today to pray for our country … pray for our world. Things don’t have to be like this unless we turn a deaf ear and blind eye to the cries of the majority of people who love America and all for which it stands. And, even if you don’t agree with that, pray anyway. Pray we can see our mistakes and the errors we’ve made, not to despise them and erase them but to grow from them. Pray that national monuments will remind us of both the good and bad in our history so we can learn to do better because I really believe that most of us really WANT to do better, if not for ourselves then for our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Seeds of discord have been sown in the soil of this great nation and it is those discordant seeds that have been allowed to grow and reproduce unchecked and without boundaries. Civil disobedience, rage, hatred, riots, destruction and the like have served as fertilizer feeding the cancerous weeds of compromise.
We’re better than what we see on the news. We’re better than what the media wants us to believe. We’re better working together to learn together as opposed to fighting against each other because of a past that cannot be changed.
I love God because He loved me even when I’m unlovable, even with my not-so-perfect past, even with my present faults and future shortcomings. Let’s pull the weeds of compromise, grab them from the roots and change the landscape of this great country. Let’s love one another as God has loved us … complete with imperfections and failures. Let’s love because God first loved us … amen!
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