In his book, Democracy in America, the French political thinker Alexis de Tocqueville made this observation: “America is great because she is good. If America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.” I suppose that we all have a tendency to cringe a little bit as we read that quote from the 1800’s. As we look at our nation today, we can see the fruits of de Tocqueville’s prediction coming to pass. How did we become a nation that could spend millions of dollars to assure the comfort and safety of animals, and yet spend twice as much to strip unborn children of the same rights? How is it that a nation which was founded upon Judeo-Christian ethics has turned a complete 180 and pushed for the normalization and acceptance of any and everything that does not fall under the umbrella of a Christian worldview? We could dive off into political agendas and conspiracy theories here and many of these things would carry some legitimacy. However, the truth of the matter is, a society becomes immoral and corrupt one person at a time. Before we shake our heads and become flabbergasted that unregenerate people act unregenerate, we ought to look at our own moral compass. This verse could just as easily say “Righteousness exalts a family or an individual: but sin is a reproach to any family/individual. The question this morning is not: How do we take America back? Sometimes we ask the wrong questions based on false assumptions. The question ought to be: How can I be a light in the darkness of our nation? When we are brought to the place that we can see and repent of our own sinful contributions to society, we will begin to be a light that shines in a dark world. The exalting of a nation happens as individuals turn from themselves, and turn to trust and walk in the righteousness of Jesus Christ.