My husband and I recently went to a neighborhood meeting to hear about what’s going on in our community. We went with pure intentions, but I let my sin take over.

When some community members got riled up, I joined right in, shaking my head vigorously at some of the elected official’s remarks, adding a loud “Yeah!” to the conversation when people asked angry questions, and thinking a couple times in my head, “This is unbelievable. I can’t believe I live here.”

I’m more comfortable throwing myself under the bus than assuming things about you, but I bet you sometimes feel this way too. I bet you get angry occasionally about what’s going on in your city, country, etc. And I know what part of our problem is.

When we place too much identity or interest in earthly things, we’re going to feel upset, offended, and dissatisfied. When earthly life, particularly government officials, don’t meet our too-high expectations, there’s only one thing we can truly do. (Hint: It does not involve getting upset at neighborhood meetings.)

We have to remember that this place is not home. 

Friend, we are “foreigners and exiles” (1 Peter 2:11). Paul acknowledged to the Philippians that there were destructive people in the world (Hmm, so that didn’t just start recently?) but reminded them “our citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20). That means you’re “Christ’s ambassador” (2 Corinthians 5:20), and that’s a game changer when it comes to how we live in this temporary home on earth.