Do Justice. Love Kindness. Walk Humbly.

For too long churches have paraded around speaking Micah 6:8 as if it is a lullaby: Do justice, love kindness, walk humbly with your God.

We say these words as if they carry little significance if not followed. We say these words as if they are simply guidelines for how life should be governed. But no. This is not the context of Micah 6.

Rather God is saying, “You’ve seen what is right, Judah. You know how to act. We’ve been over this before. Yet you still fail. I require justice, mercy and humility. And you don’t do any of these.”

For churches that come together and worship and offer proverbial sacrifices to God but do not do justice, love mercy and walk humbly are falling into the same patterned lifestyle that Judah fell into.

Micah 6:8 is not a lullaby, it is an indictment. It is a verdict. It is the theme in which life must be lived by or God will see this as a breach in covenant.

We must be people who look out into the world through the eyes of justice. This is not a request – it is our duty as children of God. We must start seeing the injustices of the world and start meeting them with a merciful heart. We must notice the children who die in Sub-Saharan Africa from Malaria. We must notice the families in Haiti dying from cholera. We must notice the families in our neighborhood who can’t offer their families enough to eat. We must notice the systemic hatred that runs through Georgia for Latin Americans for fear they are illegal. We must see that teenagers all across the world are being bullied to the point of death because of homophobia. We must notice where our money goes and who it goes to. Martin Luther King, Jr. used to say, “The universe bends towards justice.” I completely agree. But I’d add to this by saying, "It’s our responsibility to help it move."

We must also be people who look out into the world and love kindness. We must be the change we want people to see in this world. We must be the ones who embrace the outcast, disenfranchised, and lonely. We must be the ones who see life through the lens of the marginalized and downtrodden. If we don’t then who will? If we can’t, then how will the world know of God’s kindness? This is not a request – it is our duty as children of God. We must start searching for opportunities to spread God’s love through acts of kindness to the world. And this can look like so many different things: write letters to those you pray for, assist others in times of need, and listen to those who don’t have many to talk to. Kindness just may be the most forgotten Christian attribute.

Finally, we must also be people who walk out into the world humbly. A Christian life is only as strong as the devotion put in to it. We must be people who pray out a devoted heart to grow in our relationship to God. We must approach life with the humility that we don’t have all the answers and are ok with not having them. This is not a request – it is our duty as children of God. We must start in our journey humbly knowing that God is with us every step of the way.

Do justice.
Love kindness.
Walk humbly.
It’s what God’s calling Judah back to.
Do justice.
Love kindness.
Walk humbly.

It’s what our life must become. Christianity doesn't exist without ‘em.

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