What is the measure of your success as a Christian? What is God looking for in His children? If you’ve been a Christian for a while, you may have heard the following:
“God wants you to glorify Him in everything you do.”
“You need to find God’s perfect will for your life and follow it.”
“God commands you to love your neighbour as yourself.”
While all of these statements are Biblically accurate, they can all be summarized in one brief verse from the prophet Micah.
“He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” (Micah 6:8)
Let’s take a closer look at 3 things that God requires from us.
Do justly.
While the Cambridge Oxford Dictionary defines “justly” as “in a fair or morally correct way,” we need to be a little more specific. Who sets the standard for what is “fair” or “morally correct”? As Bible-believing Christians, we understand that God has given us a standard of right and wrong in His inspired Word. The Bible not only describes what is unfair and morally wrong, but it also tells us what is right, fair, and just.
Therefore, doing justly means obeying God’s commands in the Bible. It means measuring our lives by the carpenter’s level of His Word. And it means constantly striving, by God’s grace, to obey more fully.
Love mercy.
To be honest, some Christians skip over this command entirely. And they end up misrepresenting Christ. In their zeal for right and wrong, they forget to be merciful. They become arrogant and condescending toward people who are living sinful lives, and they forget how much God has forgiven them.
Mercy doesn’t mean saying that sin is okay. It means showing grace toward sinners. It means being patient with them and lovingly sharing God’s Word with them. It means empathizing with their struggles and being humble enough to admit we’re not perfect, either.
At the local church’s prison ministry, we know we aren’t perfect. But God’s still helping us grow!
People who love mercy remember how much grace and mercy God has shown toward them. They thank God for His mercy and plead that He will extend that same mercy to others.
Because God loves mercy, so should we.
Walk humbly with Him.
Remember Jesus’ parable in Luke 18 about the publican and the Pharisee? While one prayed a haughty, religious-sounding prayer, the other one beat his chest and said, “Lord, be merciful to me a sinner.” Which one did Jesus commend?
The Bible tells us that Jesus praised the one who humbly asked for mercy. He said, “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” (Luke 18:14)
Walking humbly with God goes beyond simply obeying Him. It means being humble enough to realize that, without Him, we can do nothing. It means constantly leaning on His strength and talking to Him as we go about our day.
If we walk humbly with God, we will develop a close, sweet friendship with our Maker. This is an incredible privilege and one we should not take lightly.
Living the Christian life is not complicated. It’s just hard. In our own strength, we will fail miserably. But, when we learn to depend on God, we can do justly. We can love mercy. And we can walk humbly with God.
At the local church’s prison ministry, we want to live God’s way. Join us to learn more!
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