We are admonished by both our present-day leaders and our modern scriptures to seek out righteous people to represent us, both locally and nationally. Sometimes we become discouraged, as we try to find the least flawed of two or more flawed humans. So, how do we make these types of decision? With prayer, of course, but we can’t stop there.
Let’s go back to the very basics; how do the two or more measure up on the most elementary levels? Let’s start with respect for the life of our little ones. We know that to play fast and loose with human life is to take our own eternal salvation in our hands. So, how do we decide when a baby is a human being? Do we have the capacity, the knowledge, to make such a decision? What would our Heavenly Father tell us, if we could ask Him; would He tell us to figure it out according to the values and convictions of those around us, or would He expect more of us How about truthfulness? Do they say one thing one day, depending on their audience, then say something else before a different audience? It is to be expected that an individual’s convictions will change, as years go by, but not from one week to the next, nor from one audience to the next.
Has the candidate we are considering ever been involved, without question, in corruption? Is this person for sale, if the price is right? What are his or her friends like? Have they been involved in corruption? It is a very correct concept that a person becomes more and more like his closest associates every day. So, who is he or she becoming like? We must know the answer to this one.
Finally, and this is very important, has this person always been faithful to his mate? And if he has not, has he defended his unfaithfulness, or has he expressed regret and shame at his moral failure? These things are of great importance, if we are to prepare ourselves to make wise decisions.
This is a perilous time in our nation’s history, indeed, a perilous time in human history. We must be as diligent as we can be in our selection of representatives, so we must not neglect the responsibility to investigate those who would become our leaders and to make wise decisions, decisions we could defend before our Heavenly Father, if we had to do so.
Until next time,
Return to the Neighborhood.
Let’s go back to the very basics; how do the two or more measure up on the most elementary levels? Let’s start with respect for the life of our little ones. We know that to play fast and loose with human life is to take our own eternal salvation in our hands. So, how do we decide when a baby is a human being? Do we have the capacity, the knowledge, to make such a decision? What would our Heavenly Father tell us, if we could ask Him; would He tell us to figure it out according to the values and convictions of those around us, or would He expect more of us How about truthfulness? Do they say one thing one day, depending on their audience, then say something else before a different audience? It is to be expected that an individual’s convictions will change, as years go by, but not from one week to the next, nor from one audience to the next.
Has the candidate we are considering ever been involved, without question, in corruption? Is this person for sale, if the price is right? What are his or her friends like? Have they been involved in corruption? It is a very correct concept that a person becomes more and more like his closest associates every day. So, who is he or she becoming like? We must know the answer to this one.
Finally, and this is very important, has this person always been faithful to his mate? And if he has not, has he defended his unfaithfulness, or has he expressed regret and shame at his moral failure? These things are of great importance, if we are to prepare ourselves to make wise decisions.
This is a perilous time in our nation’s history, indeed, a perilous time in human history. We must be as diligent as we can be in our selection of representatives, so we must not neglect the responsibility to investigate those who would become our leaders and to make wise decisions, decisions we could defend before our Heavenly Father, if we had to do so.
Until next time,
Return to the Neighborhood.
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