Standing for Righteousness

¹¹ “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. ¹² Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.  ¹³ “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.

This week we have an opportunity to stand for righteousness.  The May 8th elections are significant as we have the opportunity to vote for the marriage amendment which defines marriage as an union between one man and one women.  It is important to remember that our motivation for standing up should be love.  First of all our love for God motivates us to submit our lives to Him and His principals knowing that He is good, all knowing, and the Creator of all things.  Since we trust Him and His word we need to follow His word as it speaks to marriage or to any other issue. 

Second we should stand up for marriage because we love others.  We know that marriage between one man and one women is a good thing and when it is set inside of God's parameters it is a blessing for all.  Any deviation from it is harmful and can be very painful.  Since we love others we want to be very clear that it is for their benefit that we need to clarify the definition of marriage.  Therefore,  anyone who votes for the marriage amendment because of hatred for another individual caught up in an sinful lifestyle is committing a sin themselves.  It is our love for others, even our enemies that drive us to stand for righteous even in the midst of persecution. 

And we have experienced some light persecution because of our support of the marriage amendment.  We are labeled as bigots and haters, but we know the truth and we love those who throw around those labels.  Our prayer should be that the  marriage amendment will pass, and if it does not pass we may feel defeated.  But let us remember that our Lord cannot be voted out of office, His word will never change, and He is still on the throne.  We do not understand His ways, and He allows awful things to happen for several reasons.  One of those reasons may be to allow those who are rebelling against his commands to have their own way, and to show them they are foolish to think they know better than our Good and Powerful Creator.