A man’s life will never get meaningfully better if he spends more time raving about politics than dealing with the sin in his own heart. I know this from experience, but more importantly I know this from God’s Word. The human heart is where evil springs from. And so the primary source of strife, pain, anger, fighting, anxiety, depression, and dissatisfaction in my own life is me.
What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, ‘He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us’? But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
James 4:1-8
It’s easier to rail against a President or a Governor or a law or a trend than it is to deal with my own anger. And it’s easier to boast of voting the “right” way than to be forgiving and honest and truehearted to my Maker. Political struggles take less out of me than dealing with my own sin, and political righteousness is much cheaper than holiness. I can fight political wars without ever having to apologize to a family member or help an elderly neighbor cut her grass; I mean, I can do it from my couch.
But while we should speak truth in the public square, and while politics matter, the truth is that the President won’t make me a better husband, father, neighbor, or employee. And my supporting a political cause won’t have much moral substance if I never actually do anything for my neighbor with my own two hands and heart.
Deal with your sin. Address your own heart with even more vigor than you address the American political landscape.
The greatest gift you can give your family and friends and community is true holiness.
The world needs good men even more than it needs good politics.
Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.
Hebrews 12:14
A Promised Hope 
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