We (Christians) have a responsibility to be good citizens. Do we always do this?
verse 13: Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority. 14 or to government as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. 15 For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. 16 Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God. 17 Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king.
Paul tells us the very same thing in Romans 13:1 And then in Romans 13:2 he goes on to tell us that rebellion against authority is rebellion against God. How many times have I been guilty of this in my lifetime?
God ordanies 5 authorities in our lives : (1) Government (2) Church (3) Vocational (4) Marriage (5) Parental Here again I am so guilty, so many times I could not count, and so many times I am not aware of.
Verse 13 the word submit is a military term meaning "to arrange in military fashion under the commander," "to put oneself in an attitude of submission". God's people are to live in a humble, submissive way in the midst of any hostile, godless, slandering society. Verse 14 tells us to live in obedience to every institution of civil and social order on earth. This means the President, Congress, Senators, etc. Also Police, judges, state government, etc. I learned that even if I don't necessarily care for the man in the position I must respect the "position" I have been so guilty of this with Pres. Obama. I can hardly stand to look at the man and I have no respect for him, much less agree with him. But I have to repsect the position and pray for him as my leader. This has been very hard to do and I admit I don't pray like I should for him. I have also let my negative words trickle down to my 3 yr old. I have already screwed up in this area teaching her respect for our gov't. Obama comes on tv and she will say 'I don't like him" or " Nobama" I had told her who Washington was and showed her the dollar. Well, I overheard her telling my mother about Washinton and my momsaid something about our president currently and I hear Keira say" We don't like Obama, McCain should have won but not enough people went for him" I have to do better in this area for her sake and mine. So, my goal is to stop talking so negatively about him and pray for his position.
However, Scripture does tell us not to submit if the gov't tries to force a Christian to do what is against the law of God.
This has been on my mind the past few days and even though it is hard at times to submit to authority in my life, I am commanded to and will strive to do better.
4 comments:
I am glad you have made that change in the way you relate to the president/presidency. None of us are ever going to completely agree with everything our presidents, governors, senators, etc. say or do, however we must respect them and the job they do for us. It is also a great example for our children to see...because one day (as scary as this sounds) they will be the ones choosing the leaders of our country!
I have always respected the President Position, just not Obama, and yes I know that we will never totally agree with our leaders, and if Obama had been against abortion and against gay marriage and I had agreed about his tax cuts, etc I would have voted for him, I don't base my decision on the political party. I have a better understanding of God's word and the authority in my life, from my gov't to parents to my hubby. I am learning that although I may dis agree with authority's in my life, I have to follow them unless it goes against God's word.
I think you summarized the essence of the message well. In my own life, I reflected over the years that I worked and thought about the nagging and complaining that I did and quite frankly, I was convicted. Even though I didn't outwardly express my frustrations to my boss, I would sometimes (well most often) voice it to others, thus really showing a lack of respect for his/her authority over me, not to mention being hypocritical about it, also. I call it the "poor me" sydrome. And, I was not complaining that I got left out of the bonuses and promotions, because I was treated very well and given a lot of advancements. I think I just had issues back then with the "authority" aspect. Also, it reflected a lack of gratitude for the blessings of even having a job! Well, hind sight is always 20/20 and if I had it to do over, I hope that I would have been more Christ-like to those in authority over me in the workplace. :)
I have been struggling with this same thing too. Some days I just go off on tangents and even though Connor cant understand me he will one day and I do want him to respect our government and the job they do for us. I have been praying for Obama and our fallen country. You know you got me thinking though... is making abortion easier God's word? What about legalizing Gay marriage? The list goes on and on... I am not saying that we shouldnt respect the man, it just got me thinking is all. Quite frankly I got so sick of hearing everyone disrespect our last President that I want to be better than that. No one says I can disagree and be angry with some of the choices and views but I will never disrespect him in a way I have seen in the past 8 years.
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