Good morning. Rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; for it is a minister of God to you for good. If you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil. We can all point out situations where it seems like this is not the case – that there are authorities who do wrongly to the people. We have to remember that Paul lived under the authority of the Roman government, and there were a lot of times that it had rules and regulations contrary to the word of God. Of course we can’t obey those rules; but we have to be willing to face the consequences of disobeying them. Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience’ sake. All of this emphasizes the necessity of Christians to continually pray for their government. In a sense, we get the type of government that we deserve. Paul said elsewhere that we are to first of all pray for those in authority. Father we thank You that You are in control of the authorities. We pray for them and ask that they follow Your will in every decision they make.

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