Have Confidence In Your Choices – Even At The Voting Booth

Word-Of-The-Day: ‘(4) Such confidence we have through Christ before God. (5) Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. (6) He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.’ (2 Corinthians 3:4-6)

The context of 2 Corinthians 3 is Paul providing a humbling, explanatory statement that it is God who proclaims his ability to share and minister the Gospel, after some in Corinth questioned who proclaimed Paul as an Apostle to teach the Gospel to others.  Paul provides that men cannot be competent on their own, nor can another man’s letter vouching for the other man suffice when it comes to sharing the Gospel message, nor can a man provide the answers of Spiritual decisions.  A piece of paper only provides an acknowledgment of another man’s opinion; deeds provide proof a man is qualified. Only the Lord provides these answers and the Holy Spirit provides the gifts necessary for the sharing of the Word.

We do not see this confidence coming from other people in other activities.  In the political process, in other nations (and unfortunately, occasionally in the US) we see a select oligarchy select a nation’s leadership.  The confidence in the citizenry in these nations is lacking for them to select the ‘right candidate’; in Communist countries we find the ‘candidate’ is usually the one hand-selected by the group or oligarchy in power, and is the only candidate allowed to be chosen.  It is a lack of confidence in the people that they will choose the ‘preferred leader’ to mandate the use of such tactics to stay in power.

But through the Spirit God tells us that He has the confidence in us, to perform His duties, to follow His instructions, and to walk in the path of Righteousness.  With the Holy Spirit we can make decisions with confidence, and that our Spiritual gifts are effectively working toward His plans and purposes.    This includes decisions we make in our personal endeavors; the purchase of an automobile, an action in investing our savings, or even voting for a candidate running for election. 

By praying to the Lord for guidance and discernment, and keeping in tune with the Spirit, we will make the choices that are proper.  It may not make sense to others or go against the grain with society’s whims, but we can have confidence in the choices we make.  When people have freedom, the confidence is that the people will choose the leadership they deserve – and Godly people will choose Righteousness.