Act Justly, Love Mercy, and Walk Humbly

Have you ever wondered what God wants you to do exactly?  Why you are here?  What are the "right" things to do?  What the rules are?

The answers can seem overwhelming.  Especially if you go around asking people for their opinions on the matter.  I'm sure the compiled list would be quite long.  And I think it's the thought of that long, long list of things to do that turns many people off. Or, the list might be small, but impossible to complete.  This small list could contain words like perfection.  That's intimidating.  There is no way for anyone to be completely perfect.  It's unattainable.  And that's just depressing.

I need a simple, yet attainable list.  Yet, I don't want my list to be shallow, or lacking depth.  Nor do I want it to be so mired in theology that I don't even understand what it means, let alone figure out how to accomplish anything.  For me, Micah 6:8 answers the question in a way that I can understand it, yet with a depth to it that I feel like I'm not setting a shallow or easy goal.

It says this:

"And what does the Lord require of you?  To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."  NIV

"What is God looking for in men and women?  It's quite simple:  Do what is fair and just to your neighbor, be compassionate and loyal in your love, And don't take yourself too seriously-- take God seriously."  the Message

So what does it mean, to act justly?  It means to to do what is morally right, to be honest, to have integrity.  I think that this a concept that appeals to a lot of people.  We, as a society, do not like it when we perceive that something is not fair.  This seems, on the surface at least, to be an easy and simple task.

And yet, sometimes we find ourselves tempted to use justice to justify doing something that may not be quite fair.  An example of this can be drawn from a sports event.  When we feel that a member of the team we are not rooting for does something that might be considered cheating, like grabbing a face mask, we stand up loudly and are quick to point it out.  However, if it is one of our team members doing the grabbing, we are usually quiet.  And if our team member gets away with it, don't we sometimes silently cheer the fact that they didn't get caught?  Or sometimes we make excuses, like, their team has been doing it the whole game, or it wouldn't have made a difference on the outcome.  In other words, the ends justify the means.  It can be a slippery slope, this act justly thing.  I mean, who cares if we cheated a little on our taxes if we need the money and all the "rich" people are doing it too.  So what if we get a little more change back than we should when paying for an item, the store/company/whatever makes a lot of money, one dime won't matter. I think you can see where this is going.  The problem is that if people do not feel like you are trustworthy or honest, or fair in the little things, how can you be trusted with the big things?  Trust lost is hard to gain back. One compromise in integrity makes the next compromise easier.

And now we get to the love mercy part.  I think we are all drawn to mercy.  We are aware of our need for it in our lives.  But, we tend to love mercy when it comes to ourselves, and yet we are stingy with it when it comes to anyone else.  Compassionate love is often easy to give to a child, or to someone who has had a tragic situation happen.  But we want to have levels of mercy and love.  We want to say that some people deserve it more.  It's harder to have compassion on someone who has hurt us.  It's hard to believe that a criminal could and should receive mercy from God.

I'll admit that this is my area of greatest struggle.  Intellectually I know that God loves EVERYONE.  I know that God can and does show love and mercy and forgiveness to everyone.  But, I'll be honest, there are some people that I have a hard time showing that compassion and love to.  I'm still working on this one.

"Pride only breeds quarrels, but wisdom is found in those who take advice."  Proverbs 13:10

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.  Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others."  Philippians 2:3-4 NIV

"Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends.  Don't push your way to the front;  don't sweet talk your way to the top.  Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead.  Don't be obsessed with getting your own advantage.  Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand."  Philippians 2:3-4 the Message

And then we get to the walk humbly portion of the list.  Humility is hard. It's hard because it requires us to take a back seat.  It is hard because it requires us to acknowledge that we have weaknesses.  Humility requires us to live with vulnerability.  Humility requires us to acknowledge that we don't know everything.  Humility requires us to ask others for help.  Humility requires us to be honest about ourselves.  Humility puts others first.  Humility requires us to acknowledge that God is in control, not us.

Each of these points on the list are, in and of themselves, good.  But it is the combination of the three, act justly, love mercy, walk humbly, that God is looking for.  Justice needs love to balance it out.  Love needs justice to ensure that integrity is maintained.  And humility is the glue that keeps us from becoming rigid, intolerant, and arrogant.

That's my list.  Simple, yet complex.  I am striving to accomplish the tasks that God has set before me, using this simple list to help ensure that I complete what I should in a way that is pleasing to God.  I am not on this planet to simply suck up air and return nothing.  Even if what I do seems insignificant to others, I know that I will have played a part in making this place better.

I'll leave you with a quote:

"I long to accomplish great and noble tasks, but it is my chief duty and joy to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble."  Helen Keller