What we need isn’t a national divorce, it’s national repentance
This week, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-GA, made headlines when she called for a national divorce. “National divorce is not civil war, but (is) becoming a necessary reality because of our irreconcilable differences. The federal government is a monster and has become a weapon of the left against the right,” she said.
A scan of the newspaper, a turn of the radio dial, or a scroll through the Twitter feed all show that there is a great divide in this country. Technology has made it easy to shout one’s views, and the anonymity and distance it affords has turned us into “keyboard warriors.” We say things in the public square that we would never say to our neighbor’s face were we chatting with him or her over the backyard fence. Civility, it seems, is hard to find.
The anger and strife, though, are mere symptoms, indicators of an underlying disease. The sickness we carry cannot be cured by a so-called divorce, for it lies within the human heart. In biblical terms, it’s called sin, and for that we need, not a national divorce, but national repentance.
Mere separation from other human beings can never fix what is broken within. We were born, each one, with the propensity to live for self. Observing my own toddlers bore witness to that truth. I did not have to teach them how to be selfish with their toys, how to lie when they got caught, or how to hit a sibling and throw a fit. They were wired that way from the start.
The dictionary defines repentance like this, “To turn from sin and dedicate oneself to the amendment of one’s life. To feel regret or contrition. To change one’s mind. To feel sorrow, regret, or contrition for.”
In short, repentance is turning from the path that we are on and choosing a new direction. There is only way that such an amendment of one’s life is possible. That is putting your faith in God and allowing Him to take the reins. This choice will bring lasting change, deepest healing, and the abundance of life that Christ promised.
When once we have given ourselves to God, we begin to live differently. We are ruled by Love. Now that we’ve been saved by Love and filled to overflowing with Love, we have Love to give away.
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind,” Jesus said. “This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
Oh, if only every citizen were ruled by such love, we would have different families, different schools, different churches, different cities—a different country. Many of the national wounds would begin to heal.
Years ago, a prophet foretold it. “The fruit of righteousness will be peace. Its effect will be quietness and confidence forever (Isaiah 32:17).”
No, what we need is not a national divorce. We need national repentance. We need a turning away from sin and a turning to God. We are dying for this turning. We are desperate for such Love.
And Love, you know, is a person. His name is Jesus.
I am watching with hope and eager anticipation as America’s youth on college campuses around the country are finding the cure. Revival is breaking out, and it has started with them. May we not lag behind this generation in lifting our own faces to the sun (to the Son)! May God bless America, and may He truly unite our beloved states.