My country tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty…
“My Country, ‘Tis of Thee” (“America”)
by Samuel Francis Smith
“Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account.” – Hebrews 13:17 (NIV)
With the Federal Government shutdown in full swing, people are divided about who is to blame. As a blogger and freelance writer, I give my opinion and offer commentary about situations like this almost every day – and I have been busy during this shutdown.
Sadly, there’s a lot of hatred being spewed from both sides.
It’s always been hard for me to understand the verse from Romans 13:1 “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.”
Many times I have said, “No, I don’t want to be subject to this person or that person in authority, AND I don’t want to submit to them” (I need to work on this).
It’s also easy to say, “I respect the office but not the person occupying it.” In my opinion, the verses in Hebrews and Romans are not referring to the office, but to the “leaders” (people) currently occupying the office.
We should pray for the President and the leaders in Congress (1 Timothy 2) – whether we voted for them or not. We are all in this together.
Have a great week!
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