Monday; October 4

I didn’t personally watch the Presidential debates last week, but I have heard a lot about them. The one thing I have not heard about them is anyone who thought they were good or productive. It seems odd that so much unity came out of such a divisive event. While I am not going spend much time assessing what happened last week, one thing that I will say is that that type of behavior is not what I want our nation to be known for. Folks, I don’t care who your candidate is, please don’t do what they did! If they want to be our leaders, they need to lead us in a better direction!

Now, having said that, I want to ask us another question ... when our children or grandchildren watch us interact with others – especially those with whom we disagree – do we make them proud or do we embarrass them? When they hear us in the coffee shop talking about religion, politics or social issues, are they proud of our ability to present our case with dignity or are they shamed by what they hear? When our young people read our social media posts, are they willing to repost them because they show respect or have they hidden us because of the toxicity of our pages? I believe we should be passing on to our younger generations the principles and values that are important to us, but we also need to be showing them how important it is to be able to disagree without being disagreeable.
From our national political candidates to our children on the playground, we need to be reminded of the principles of New Testament, especially in how we communicate with each other. Let’s never lose sight of the simple admonition, “Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.” (Colossians 4:6).

Think About It!

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