Remembering What’s Important

Elections come and go, but our responsibility to love our families, respect our neighbors, and lead with faith remains

#MindsetMonday • 9:30 a.m. Nov. 9, 2026

I’ve voted in a lot of elections. I’ve never had one relieve me of my responsibility to be a good husband, a good father, a good neighbor, or a decent human being. You’d think a few of the conversations we’re having would come with that reminder.

Every election brings strong opinions. There’s nothing wrong with caring about the direction of our country. There’s something wrong when we care so much about winning an argument that we stop caring about the person standing in front of us (or at the other end of our keyboard).

When I look back at my own life, we’ve built businesses, raised children, weathered challenges, and experienced success under every kind of presidency dating back to George H.W. Bush. Republican. Democrat. People I voted for and people I didn’t.

Honestly, politics has had very little effect on my personal life. That doesn’t mean everyone can say the same. Some people face circumstances I haven’t faced, and loving them well means listening instead of assuming their experiences are anything like mine. What I can tell you is this: No election has ever made the important decisions in my home.

Mary and I still decide how we treat each other. We decide how we show up for our family. We decide whether to give when someone needs help, whether to extend grace, and whether our home will be a place of peace or another place where anger gets a front-row seat or, even worse, a platform.

We don’t check someone’s voter registration before we choose to love them. We don’t need to agree with them to help them.

When Jesus commanded us to love our neighbor as ourselves, He didn’t add a political exception.

My faith reminds me that God’s sovereignty doesn’t rise and fall with election results. He remains sovereign when I understand what’s happening and when I don’t, which is most of the time! That one truth alone gives me peace, but it also leaves me with work to do. Trusting God doesn’t excuse me from responsibility. It heightens my awareness of it.

I’m responsible for the example I set. For the words I speak. For what I post. For whether the people closest to me get my patience or whatever bad feelings I’ve allowed the news or social media to create. Our children are learning how to handle disagreement by watching us.

Our neighbors are learning something about our faith by how we treat them. We can talk about love all day, but eventually somebody needs to experience love through us.

So this week: Lead your home. Love your people. Make room at the table for someone who sees things differently.

Elections end. Your influence will keep going. Let’s give freely, love intentionally, and trust God. We still have people to take care of!