REACTIONS

I Was Just Thinking About – REACTIONS.

The Presidential Election of 2016 has resulted in some reaction and misunderstanding. The final vote tally is not complete but the Presidency has been decided. The losing Candidate received approximately 60,500,000 popular votes and the winning candidate received 60,100,000 – a difference of 400,000 votes. The deciding factor was the Electoral College totals. The candidate with the greater popular vote received 228 Electoral College votes whereas the candidate with the lesser popular vote received 290 Electoral College votes – and was declared to be the President-Elect. With the country that evenly divided, it was predictable that there would be reaction. Some reaction is unseemly as protests and rioting have taken place in several cities across the nation.

In 1967, J. Allan Petersen, who was director of Family Concern, Inc. produced a booklet that was titled: “Who Runs Your Life?” Later on, the title was changed to: “Your Reactions Are Showing.” He discussed actions as compared with reactions. He wrote: “Were a person to watch my actions, he would not really know me…My actions might be planned and practiced for his benefit. But it is my reactions – my spontaneous, unconscious, unscheduled reactions – that reveal who I/we really are.”

In Titus 1:10-16, the Apostle Paul writes about actions of some and what the proper reaction should be: “For many are rebellious and full of empty talk and deception…who must be silenced. For the sake of dishonorable gain, they undermine entire households and teach things they should not…To the pure, all things are pure; but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure. Indeed, both their minds and their consciences are defiled. They profess to know God, but they deny Him by their actions. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good deed.”

Notice Paul’s observation about the rebellious: “both their minds and their consciences are defiled.” Notice the basis of his observation: “They profess to know God, but they deny Him by their actions.” Notice the conclusions about the rebellious: (They) “must be silenced. For the sake of dishonorable gain, they undermine entire households and teach things they should not… They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good deed.”

Petersen concludes his booklet by emphasizing the rightful and genuine action to love one another (and that includes even those who may be our enemy). He writes: “This is gloriously possible as we allow the Lord to control us. Let us forgive and love when we are wronged; embrace these as opportunities for maturity, and God will prosper us increasingly.” If we ignore these principles and actions, there will be negative reactions and destructive results.

Prayerfully – consider these things with me.

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