Text: Proverbs 14:34 Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.
It is election time again. It's easy to see. We are inundated with TV ads. Candidates are throwing mud at each other. We don't know what is truth or what isn't. Our phones are ringing off the hook by people we never even heard of, trying to get support for their candidates.
What should we look for in a candidate? In time past the leaders of our country looked to God for direction. Is there a person running today that prays about his or her decisions before they decide on the issues?
Our founding fathers gave us documents such as the bill of rights the constitution etc…
Our nation was founded upon the principles of scripture.
Let's take a look at the past and see what these principles were.
#1 The dignity of human life
Exodus 20:13 Thou shalt not kill. Americans embrace the idea Life Liberty and the Pursuit of happiness. Our military defends this right around the world. This is the right of the born and unborn.
#2The traditional Monogamous Family
Genesis 2:22-23 And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
23 And Adam said this is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. (only one bone was removed).
Our society is based upon the belief of traditional marriage and family. This is the backbone of any healthy social order. The union between one man and one woman and out of that union comes children that are raised up to be healthy, productive, and responsible citizens.
Without marriage and family in any society, that society is on the road to ruin. World history has proven that when the family unit crumbles so does the society.
#3 A National Work Ethic
2 Thessalonians 3:10 For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.
The attitude of all of us should be, AN HONEST DAYS WORK FOR AN HONEST DAYS PAY. No one should depend on the handout of Government or the generosity of others.
Psalm 128:2 For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee.
It is this independent spirit that has made America such a strong economic Nation.
#4 God Centered Education
Ephesians 6:4 And you fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.
Proverbs 1:7 says; The fear of the Lord is the beginning of KNOWLEDGE. Knowlegde is education.
We MUST know the creator to understand the creation.
Our greatest universities such as Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Dartmouth were founded upon Christian principles by Christian preachers.
Rules and precepts adopted by these universities such as Harvard.
Harvard; Let every student be plainly instructed, and earnestly pressed to consider well, the main end of his life and studies is to know God and Jesus Christ which is eternal life.
George Washington said; It is impossible to rightly govern the without God and the bible.
#5 The Abrahamic Covenant
Genesis 12:1-3 Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
Galatians 3:7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
The promise to Abraham was that if he would follow him (God) that he would make him a great nation. The same is true today of America. When we leave the principles of God, we forfeit the blessings of God.
In Galatians 3:7 we see that we that are of faith ARE THE CHILDREN OF GOD.
#6 Common Decency
Matthew 22:39 Thy shall love thy neighbor as thy self.
When people are faced with difficult situations, they do the right thing if they are decent people with high ethical standards. We respond to the needs of others when the situation is present.
On the plaque at the base of the statue of liberty we read these words; Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest tossed to me; I lift my lamp beside the golden door. We are a Nation of common decency.
#7 Personal Accountability to God
Hebrews 9:27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.
Perhaps the greatest restraint against acts of evil towards others is the knowledge that we will one day give answer to God for our actions in this life.
We know that there is penalty for wrong and reward for doing good.
Daniel Webster was asked; " What is the most sobering thought that ever entered your mind?" He quickly responded, "My personal accountability to God." Daniel Webster knew that he would one day stand before Almighty God and give answer for his actions. This is true for each one of us.
Conclusion
When you go to the polls to vote, remember these principles. Pick the person the best suitable to uphold these values.
More important than your vote is for all of us to live up to them ourselves.
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