God in the coming elections

What are the traits or qualities that we look for in a presidential candidate during elections?  Popularity?  Winnability?  Or the most popular – having an outlook and possibility of meeting our own personal needs and desires in the future.  For most and many of us, we always have our own sets of criteria in evaluating who to vote for during elections.  We have to frankly admit most of our qualifications are self-serving – that which would be favorable to ourselves would come first.  We can try to be objective about the process, but one question remains – where is God in all these?

Or is he even a factor?  Does God have anything to do with it?  Is he involved?  I asked a group of friends once and there was a fidgety silence.  It seems most of us, though we might not admit it openly, do not involve God in our election thinking process.  God is God and politics is politics – they don’t mix.  Or do they?  A cursory reading of the entire Bible shows that God has been involved in all aspects of human history, and everything that happened (and will happen) had his full knowledge and permission.  God is sovereign in all things, including world history, current events, and choosing world leaders.

For us Christians, and even for those who aren’t, I submit that we shouldn’t separate our Christianity, or faith, from our politics.  If God is God and sovereign, then he is active in our politics.  There are two spheres that he wants us involved in – first, the criteria for what good leaders should be, and second, how we are supposed to make our judgment.  God has already stated his standards for leadership, and it's all laid out in the Scriptures, through commandments and examples he set.  The Christian Values Movement (CVM), which is a movement formed to pursue the vision of Biblical values being embraced and lived out by believers, also attempts to suggest the Biblical way to vote for government leaders, especially on the area of character, competence, family, justice, and accountability.  I agree and I believe leaders should excel in these areas, especially on how God wanted all of us to be, as leaders, voters, or simply ordinary citizens.

We need to ask ourselves - do we seek God’s guidance when we vote, or do we simply shut him out of the equation?  Maybe we have not thought of this before,  but we are indeed a Christian country, foremost in Asia, isn’t our Christian beliefs part of our politics.  Our Constitution’s preamble, first and foremost, invokes the aid of the Almighty God, so why don’t we submit our suffrage to him?  To ask God’s guidance in voting.

CVM is not a partisan group but is simply a movement to engage the present and next generation of leaders for public service, good governance, and servant leadership that are firmly rooted in biblical values of love of God, love of country, and love for others; and committed to honoring God in all sectors of society.  I sincerely invite you to check it out at https:/cvm.com.ph.  God bless us all and God bless the Philippines.