After months of utter aggravation and frustration over the nation’s top two choices for president, an epiphany occurred last week.

Neither Hillary Clinton nor Donald Trump appear to align well with Christian values. Their “fruit” as the Bible suggests is evidence of one’s Christian walk appears in most cases to be made of plastic and cardboard — it looks good, but it’s not real.

That’s frustrating.

Americans — many of us — are angry over other moral decay of our country. We’re frustrated over the seemingly utter lack of values our leaders have.

And we’re quick to get angry when we look around and realize we have few avenues to fix this situation.

We want something to change, but neither major party candidate seems fit for the task at hand.

But last week, the realization that yours truly was looking at the presidential situation from the wrong angle suddenly made perfect sense.

This election isn’t about Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump’s lies, crude behavior or any other character flaws revealed during the campaign.

No, this election isn’t about them; it’s about us — everyday Americans, particularly Christian ones.

The frustration we feel with either candidate needs to be reflected back on us.

Christians have sat back for far too long, going to church on Sundays and living our lives, but not doing what God actually called us to do — love God and love our neighbors.

While many of us love God, many more of us fall short of that second most important command.

That’s become painfully evident in this year’s presidential election.

The lack of love has devolved into a distrust and hatred for those who don’t think like we do. We have drawn a moral line in the sand and depending upon which side of that line one stands, your friends, neighbors and even church members may be prepared to chew you up over something that ultimately doesn’t matter.

On judgment day, will God ask us to recount who received our vote on Election Day 2016?

Or will he ask, “Why in the depths of America’s despair did you miss the two human signs I sent?”

Clearly, our country is deeply divided and sideways references to the “rigged” election and the possibility that one side may not accept the outcome, thus causing whispers of some kind of insurrection, only worsen that divide.

Perhaps we should all consider — and this is difficult for either side to probably swallow — God sent both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

He sent them not to be our nation’s chosen leader so much as to cause us to consider our ways and start a discussion of what’s wrong with the country and how we might work collectively to fix it.

When God sent his Son to earth, his arrival was largely uneventful for the people of his day.

They were expecting a Messiah to come and conquer their foes.

Both sides in the current election are working much in the same manner, hopeful their candidate will quash their moral opponent.

But instead of fighting the masses, Jesus did something even more radical; he talked to those who were fallen. He befriended the downtrodden and helped the sick.

He did what was unpopular.

But in doing so, he gave us a model for how we are to live and how we’re to interact.

I only regret that it’s taken me this long to comprehend that the election isn’t about who wins or loses, but about who learns from the mirror He has put up to show us how bad our society has become.

The solution isn’t the election of a single man or single woman, but for us to change our hearts — one person at a time.

Maybe it doesn’t matter who we elect in a few weeks, particularly if we use the election to recognize our real problem isn’t our leaders — it’s each of us.

Kevin Cooper is publisher of The Natchez Democrat. He can be reached at 601-445-3539 or kevin.cooper@natchezdemocrat.com.