How can I write this? I live in a city where property tax was just increased while the police force received cuts along with fire fighters. I don't know if these are good things that the current leadership is doing to cut down on unnecessary expenses and build a better future or a greedy government that wants more money for providing less services.
This past Sunday we sang, "He's got the whole world in His hands."
Romans 13:1 says, "Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God."
This might be one of the hardest truths to believe.
I am sure the Israelites found it hard to believe when they were captives under Assyrian or Babylonian rule.
I bet the early Christians struggled with the idea of God having established the Roman rule that was their biggest threat. Yet the Apostle Paul writes these things to the church IN ROME.
Jesus Christ famously said, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s."
Why do we feel tempted to cheat on our taxes?
FIRST: I think it has to do with giving ME what is MINE. Interestingly - that is not in Jesus' statement. Is anything I have mine? What if I made a list of everything I have control over and then put next to each thing that it either belonged to the government or belonged to God - what would that list look like? How would it effect me to see it?
LAST: I am not willing to give to Caesar because I have not given to God first. If I gave myself completely to Him I would be more like Jesus and less attached to this world and the things of it.
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