"You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor."
How do you think Luther would feel about today's political climate? "We are to fear and love God, so that we do not tell lies about our neighbors, betray or slander them, or destroy their reputations." Sadly, that seems exactly the mode of operation taking place right now. The only way to "win" is to be as negative as possible against your opponents. If Luther follows his own advice, he wouldn't be very successful as a politician today, or so it would seem.
But we can choose a better way. We can choose to be different. As the devotions says, ""Choose to receive everyone and everything that happens to you in the best possible light." Do this even when people may not treat us with the same kindness. We can't control what other people may say or think. But we can control our behavior. Speak well of others. Don't let modern politicians dictate our ethics. Our commitment is to a higher power, who calls us to be loving and gracious in our treatment of our neighbors.
I like the phrase used in "Free Indeed": generous spirits. If we are to be generous spirits, then we need to speak well...even of politicians.
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