Wait, is that right?

There is an old saying, "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." How many times have you heard that? Sounds like it makes sense doesn't it? After all, as we look at the world around us, and we see people come into positions of power, how often do they end up being corrupted by that power? Pretty common isn't it? This usually would lead one to think that this statement is true, and just accept it and move on.

I think, though, that sometimes we need to take some of these gems of common wisdom and say, wait a minute, is that right? Let's think about this one for a minute. Doesn't God have absolute power? Yes, of course He does. And is He corrupted? Of course not. So, it is not an absolute fact that power corrupts or that absolute power corrupts absolutely. Of course, God is the only one that has absolute power, but, by watching His example, we can see that power need not corrupt us either.

In and of ourselves, when we try to live our own lives and do things on our own, it is nearly certain that power would go to our heads and corrupt us, but if we know God, through Jesus Christ, His Son, and have a relationship with Him, we can, through that relationship, handle power without being corrupted.

So, while there may be some truth to some of these pearls of wisdom, we really need to stop and think things through, instead of just accepting them at face value.