As the next major election of the United States of America approaches, my greatest desire is that the grace of God will be upon our nation. It is my prayer that we as a people will love justice, hate evil and pray for mercy. The last year has been filled with so many inflammatory remarks about what we should believe about someone else most Americans are lacking in trust and being much divided. I have heard some say, “I don’t know what I believe.” In this midst of this storm I see a rescuing beacon if we will move toward God calls to love each other with his love.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (NIV)
⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
⁵ It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
⁸ Love never fails.

It is interesting that the biblical definition of love starts with words which describe what misses the mark and then it ends with words that show us what it really looks like. The entire thirteenth chapter of First Corinthians is inserted in a place where the zeal for being spiritual and used of God is actually measured against a standard of who God truly is; love. Sometimes we are so caught up in being a Christian that we might lose awareness of what a Christian looks like to others watching and listening to us on a daily basis. Do others see us as patient with those that differ from us? Do we seem boastful or proud in a way that turns others away from Jesus? Have we learned to justify being rude because we believe we are right? Have we told others that our anger was God’s anger? Do we keep track of the times we have been offended and then give it right back to others the way we perceive they gave it to us?  It is so easy to fall into these traps in this modern day of the loudest voice must be the right voice. The world may not be following the way of love but we are not called to follow the world. Verse seven gives us direction towards true love. True love creates security for those who come in contact with it. It gives people an anchor to trust in God while the winds are blowing uncertainty in our face. It fixes our hope as a genuine expectation that good will prevail before this comes to an end. This hope gives us the strength to keep going forward when our circumstances try to convince us to quit. Finally, the love of God will never fail. God has a redemptive plan for all of man and it will be fulfilled. I would ask everyone who calls themselves a Christian to adjust how we look in the mirror of God’s love before we go out to meet our day. This will have as powerful an impact on our nation as the vote we will cast on November 4. One day we will all stand before our maker and he will ask us this question. “How did you love others while on the earth?” Let’s vote with our conscience on Election Day and with our conduct every single day. This is how we all can contribute to the healing of America’s soul.
-Pastor Greg