how to vote

With a little less than a week left until the election, I wanted to make this post to remind people of the most important things to do when voting. This election is probably one of the most important elections of our lives (at least to date), and so its important to really make sure you are prepared when going into it. Here are my tips on how to vote, especially as Christians.

o n e ///// pray about it

    This is the case for everything we do in life. We need to pray and ask God for guidance whenever we are making big decisions to see where His heart is on the matter and to make sure we are looking at it through a Biblical lens. Voting is no different. This is a very important decision that will affect our lives and our children's lives for years to come, so it's not something we should do on our own. 

    We should also pray that God has His hand over the election. God already knows who's going to win next week. He knows who will be president fifty years from now. Nothing surprises Him, and no matter who wins, He will be able to use it for His good in some way whether we see it now or not. 

    We also need to pray that God softens our hearts towards whoever wins. I recently read a blog post that said that it's hard to hate somebody you're praying for, and that really resonated with me. We're called to love our enemies, and part of loving someone is praying for them. Even if we don't agree with the person elected this year, we should be praying that God uses them in whatever way He needs to, and is inevitably going to. 

t w o ///// do the research

    In order to make a good decision when voting we must know who and what we are actually voting for. Look into their policies (highly recommend listening to Allie Beth Stuckey's recent podcasts that dive into the policies of each candidate side by side). If we're ignorant about what the person we're voting for stands for, then we shouldn't be voting in the first place. Same thing goes if we're only forming our opinions based on the opinions of others. It's okay to listen to people you agree with, but also make sure you can trust them and to do your own research. There are so many people who advocate for things on social media that really don't know what they're talking about. Honestly, there are people who advocate for things that do know what they're talking about, yet they still fabricate it so that what they're sharing fits their own personal agenda. I think we all know this, but when it comes to politics, there is so much bias and it's so hard to know who and what you can trust. That is why it is so so so important to do your own research and to know the facts before you make any decisions. 

t h r e e ///// choose facts over feelings

    So many people use their feelings to guide their political opinions. As an empathetic person, that has been easy for me to do in the past myself. But a lot of times, our feelings don't really align with what the facts are actually telling us. Our feelings really come into play now because many politicians (and of course news outlets and social media) know how to present you with information that will affect your emotions in the way they want it to. Your feelings can be valid, but not as valid as the truth and the facts on the matter are. We shouldn't base our decisions on our feelings because they are ever-changing. But the facts and the truth will always be there and will always be true. 

f o u r ///// remember that nobody is perfect 

    We need to remember that no matter who we vote for, they are never going to be perfect. There is no such thing as a perfect person, so how could there be perfect candidates? If we ourselves decided to run one day, we would still be voting an imperfect person into office. We're not choosing a pastor or a savior. We already have those things in Jesus, the only One who will ever be a perfect leader in our lives. If we're expecting our human leader to be perfect in all aspects of life and a perfect representation of Christ Himself then we are not only being very unfair because we ourselves are not even that ("let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone." -John 8:7), but we are also holding them to a standard that only Jesus is able to meet and fulfill. We will always be disappointed in our leaders, and everyone else in our lives, if we expect them to be perfect. 

f i v e ///// policies 

    We're picking a president, not a savior or a husband. Character matters, yes, but it's not going to affect this country as much as their policies and actions will, and that is exactly their job and why we're voting- to pick a leader to carry out particular policies and actions. Like I said in the last point, if we're basing our decision on character then we should just stop voting because there will also be a critique or complaint we have about every candidate who runs until the end of time. We need to base our decision on what they're going to do for the country and what they already have done during their time either as president or in another office position. Policies are what shape our country, future, lives, and world, not what type of sin someone commits or what they tweet or say. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you should vote for someone like Hitler just because he happens to be against abortion and will protect our religious liberties. But we need to start seeing these candidates as what they really are and what their job entails. 

s i x ///// don't listen to the world

    The world, celebrities, and social media are very quick to give their political opinions, which is fine. We all have the right to our own opinion and to be able to share that opinion even if it doesn't fit the main-stream narrative thanks to the First Amendment. But we need to stop being so quick to listen to what they're saying and being so quick to conform to their opinions and ideologies. Most of those people are not people of God, and therefore, we can't expect them to hold His word as Truth. This means, in more cases than none, we shouldn't be agreeing with them. God made it clear in many parts of the Bible that there is a big difference between His Kingdom and the world. Sure there are going to be times when the opinions of the world agree with the opinions of God, but in many instances that isn't the case. When it comes to a lot of political issues, if we are agreeing with the world's stances on them, odds are we need to rethink our views because we are not a part of the world. We are held to different standards and have different morals and beliefs, therefore, we will most likely always have different opinions on world problems like politics and culture. That may sound harsh, but I think it is something that really needs to be said. I've seen so many "Christians" conform to the world the past few months in the way they are viewing certain political issues and it really breaks my heart. Our allegiance is not to this culture or even to this country, but to Jesus, and we need to look at these issues from His perspective, not from the worlds.