I’ll be honest—there are days when the state of our country feels overwhelmingly impossible: the violence, the hatred, and the division. And in despair, I wonder, “What difference can I possibly make?”
Do you ever feel that way?
Alexis de Tocqueville saw this coming. Writing about American democracy nearly two centuries ago, he observed: “Everybody feels the evil, but no one has courage or energy enough to seek the cure.”
This could be a headline in today’s news!
But he also wrote something that gives us great hope. After traveling the length and breadth of this nation, searching for the source of its greatness, de Tocqueville concluded:
“I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers—and it was not there… in her fertile fields and boundless forests—and it was not there… in her rich mines and her vast world commerce—and it was not there… in her democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution—and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great.”
The secret of our nation’s greatness was never military might or economic power. It was righteousness. And righteousness doesn’t begin in Congress—it begins with Jesus in the hearts of the people of a nation. His presence in our lives through salvation gives us a new nature and new desires. He gives us HIS love, justice, and righteousness—not our own. This is a necessary foundation for a nation to survive!
When a nation abandons this foundation, something insidious takes its place. De Tocqueville warned that radical materialism and unchecked individualism would eventually cause people to “meekly allow themselves to be led in ignorance by a despotic force all the more powerful because it does not resemble one.” Multiple generations are now living that reality—addicted to self and led astray by a force they don’t even recognize as evil.
But God’s ancient promise to Israel is exactly what each of us needs today:
“I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.” (Ezekiel 36:26–28)
When we are born again, God gives us a new heart that desires to walk in selflessness and obedience. This is transformation at the root level. Paul explains:
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2).
And Jesus makes the connection between inner transformation and cultural impact unmistakable:
“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.” (Matthew 5:14)
De Tocqueville called these deep, practiced, daily dispositions that shape a person from the inside out “habits of the heart.” When God replaces our hearts of stone with living hearts, everything changes. Our desires flow from the born again nature God has given us. We stop being led by the chains of sin and selfishness and start reflecting the attitudes of Christ and the mind of Christ.
One person cannot fix Washington. We cannot force unity. But we can turn our own hearts toward God today—in our homes, our neighborhoods, churches, our workplace. That is not a small thing. This is how nations change. One surrendered heart at a time invokes the power of Almighty God. No evil can defeat Him.
God’s heart, living strongly within our hearts, can change a nation.
Prayer:
Father, I feel the weight of what’s broken in this nation, and I confess that there are days when I don’t know what to do with it. But today, I bring You my own heart. Remove everything in me that is hard, selfish, and conformed to this world. Give me Your heart. Reveal the habits and attitudes I need to change. Let the habits of my daily life reflect Your nature. Use me as a light in the specific corner of the world where You’ve placed me in. And Lord — do it in this nation. Revive Your church. Make our country good, because only then can she be great. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
