Does power
corrupt people, or do people corrupt the power available to them? How are you
using the power allotted to you?
September’s Awakening, Day 26
Power tends to corrupt, and absolute
power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men. There is no
worse heresy than that the office sanctifies the holder of it.
—Lord Acton
Power doesn’t corrupt people. People
corrupt power.
—Author Unknown
Jesus
knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come
from God and was returning to God; John 13:3 NIV
Everyone
has turned away, all have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not
even one. Psalm 53:3 NIV
If we contemplate this dilemma
logically, we must arrive at the conclusion that power itself is neutral. It is
the choices we make in using the power allotted to us that tends to become
problematic. As humans, there will always be the irresistible temptation to use
power to our personal gain or advantage, and therein lies the problem. Therefore,
even though power is neutral, the temptation to abuse it is virtually
irresistible, like trying to avoid eating the forbidden fruit. Power is truly an
enormous temptation and easy to abuse, and only a select few with exemplary
character, nobility, and restraint, can effectively and safely wield it, and
those select few are few indeed.
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