A former congressional candidate and campaign manager has shown that compassion, empathy, and truth should be the gold standard — even in the oft-times cutthroat world of politics.

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Bunni Pounds, founder and president of Christians Engaged, told CBN News Christians must always remember Jesus’ call — even when it comes to navigating politics.

“The first commandment is to love Jesus with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love our neighbors as ourselves,” she said. “We do not cease to be Christ followers if we get involved in politics and government.”

While Pounds said some might scoff at or worry about entering into the political realm — a place she has personally worked for quite some time — she noted a consistent prayer walk and relationship with Jesus can help Christians “see great impact” in such arenas.

Pounds isn’t just talking the talk, either. She has consistently walked this walk. When she ran for Texas’ 5th Congressional District in 2018, she found herself in a precarious place.

“I lost a race by 2,700 votes out of 43,000 votes,” she said. “It was really close. But my opponent, during the Republican runoff, his consultants had floated all of his invoices. So, if you could imagine — his TV, his mail, his radio ads, his consulting fees, all had been not billed.”

Pounds said she was out-raising him despite her loss to Rep. Lance Gooden (R-Texas). And her inability to win amid her well-managed campaign left her frustrated.

“When I finished the campaign, I paid off all my bills — and I couldn’t win,” Pounds said. “So, the injustice of that was digging at my heart. Well, a year later, I heard the Lord say, ‘You’re not going to get through this if you don’t do something drastic to impact your heart.'”

She knew she had to listen to God’s promptings.

“I called [my former opponent], had lunch with him, and asked him if I could help pay off the rest of his 50,000 of the debt that he had from our runoff — and he graciously accepted,” Pounds said. “And we did a huge party, and I fundraised towards that, and we all paid for it. All of our campaign staff, consultants — we all laid our offenses, bitterness and unforgiveness down at the feet of Jesus and walked out of there completely free.”

Now, Gooden and Pounds are friends and she said he became the first member of Congress to support her latest book, “Jesus and Politics: One Woman’s Walk with God in a Mudslinging Profession.”

“I think is a testimony of God’s grace,” she said.

And Pounds hasn’t stopped there. After transitioning from political consulting into full-time ministry, she found herself encouraging Christians to pray for elected officials “regardless of party.” And then she had a strange dream that led her to take action.

“I had this dream I was standing before [then-]Congressman Beto O’Rourke, telling him that God loves him, loves his family, sees his servant heart towards people, and that he wants him to know Him more,” Pounds said. “Well, you know, I’m from the persuasion of the Republican Party, right? That’s where I’ve done all my consulting. And he’s not.”

Three months later, Pounds met O’Rourke as he was running for Texas governor — a moment she called a “divine setup.”

“I’ll tell you this: I’ve never felt the presence of God like I did when I prayed for … Beto O’Rourke that day,” she said of her encounter with the Democrat. “And we started texting and we became friends. And … I don’t know how deeply that affected him, but I tell you, it changed my life.”

While remaining committed to speaking and living out truth, Pounds found herself learning important lessons about not demonizing others or creating “caricatures.” Ultimately, she said Christians must find ways to point people toward Jesus.

And this is what Pounds is now doing through her organization Christians Engaged, a group equipping Christian voters and encouraging them to be faith-forward at the polls. Find out more about her journey in “Jesus and Politics: One Woman’s Walk with God in a Mudslinging Profession.”