Government and governing ourselves

When we look at government and governing ourselves I am speaking of two different things.

In the current political environment in South Africa, government is equated with the current ruling party as government and governing ourselves is seen as the South African people's right to govern themselves without outside interference.

However, this is not exactly what I mean. When I use the word government I mean it in a more general sense of governing, not a body of people sitting at the head of a nation. Government, at least the way I am using it here contains the ability of a people to govern their affairs. When I use the phrase, governing ourselves, I am speaking on a more personal level in which we as individuals govern ourselves and keep ourselves in check!

This ability to govern ourselves on a personal level is called self-government. It is an internal government in which some type of worldview or philosophy of life guides us in how we handle the affairs of our own lives and also how we approach the events and laws of the environment we live in, be it our community or country or world.

External government is that government which is applied to our lives by others, such as the current ruling government and its laws.

The fact is that if we apply less self-government in our lives, we end up surrendering that sphere of government to another, which means more civil government. The less we govern ourselves, the more we need to be governed by an external power, which means less liberties. Hence, we will also experience less rights, since rights can only be acknowledged, not given.

As human beings, we cannot endow ourselves with rights, since we ourselves do not have the right to endow ourselves with rights. We can merely acknowledge those rights we already are endowed with. These rights can only be found within the boundaries of our liberties. What we are not at liberty to do or possess, we cannot bestow on ourselves, since liberties and rights can only be awarded by someone greater than ourselves, God. Governments all around the world can only acknowledge the rights and liberties that have already been bestowed on mankind by God, and cannot legitimise those rights by its own man-made constitutions and laws.

When governments take it upon themselves to bestow, rather than acknowledge rights and liberties, it will be quite evident that such governments would think of its citizens as servants of the state. However, the state exists to serve man, since man is superior to the state as an institution. In a country where a government does not believe this, the government will eventually put people's lives, liberties, rights and property in danger.

However, there needs to be a balance between internal and external government. Where too much external government is applied, there will also be too much unity which will lead to tyranny. Where there is too much individualism, internal government, it will lead to anarchy.

The fact that the people of South Africa have lost the capability to govern themselves internally has become the shame of this nation.

Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people. (Pro 14:34)

The condition of our country certainly has become a shame to us. Virtue has become a cuss-word and deliberate perversion has become the order of the day. This has led to other evils such as escalation in rape, especially child rape, which has been fuelled by the legalization of pornography. Pornography is not a victimless crime. The fact is that after it was legalized in the USA rape rose by 139% while in Britain it rose by 94%. For what reason would we believe that it would be any different in South Africa? The connection between pornography and rape has been shown in study after study!

Another sin that is a reproach to the people is abortion. Since the legalization of abortion in 1997, close to 600,000 babies have been denied the right to life by a constitution that is anti-life!

Why would there be such an escalation of crime in this country if it weren't for the fact that its people have lost their moral compass! Many South Africans no longer have the inner character to govern themselves internally, and as a result each one is doing what is right in his own eyes!

When a government officially "removes" God from its constitution, one can only assume that it is the beginning of the end. Since Europe, in its European Constitution also denied the very God that established it and the people also did so in the preceding years, it has been overrun by hordes of Muslims, threatening the Islamization of Europe. In South Africa we are overrun with hordes of criminals.

When people deny God, its ruin will come swiftly.

May we in South Africa turn our eyes to the Lord Jesus Christ where our help comes from!

"(1) A Song of Ascents. To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens!(2) Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maidservant to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the LORD our God, till he has mercy upon us.(3) Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us, for we have had more than enough of contempt.(4) Our soul has had more than enough of the scorn of those who are at ease, of the contempt of the proud."
(Psa 123:1-4)