Justice and Mercy

June 17

Justice is a commodity that everyone desires to have when they feel they have been wronged. When the shoe is on the other foot, when one is in the wrong, he prefers mercy. In God, justice and mercy go hand-in-hand.

He would have us to mirror His perfect justice and perfect mercy in our dealings with one another. How can we, who are fallen and steeped in sin, even begin to approximate the purity of the God who embodies every excellent quality, including justice, including mercy?

We do not contain these virtues, or any others, within ourselves. But we can reflect them as we allow the light and the love and the salvation and the truth and the beauty of Jesus to shine from our lives. To the degree that we allow Him to overshadow our self-hood, to that degree will the loveliness of His character supersede the brokenness of our own.

Not only will we have the joy of being the small candle of light that shines in the darkness of the world around us, but we will also have the blessing of seeing Psalm 37:28 fulfilled in us. It says, “The Lord loves the just and will not forsake His faithful ones.” If we will be faithful to extend His justice and mercy—all the good things that Jesus is—to those around us, He will stand by us through time and eternity.