MICAH 6:8 – He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”

So, paint this picture with me. What if every person who claims to be a Christian lived each day, in all relationships – family, friend, strangers – with the attitudes and actions described in today’s scripture – fair, impartial treatment of all (do justice), kindness to all, yes, the difficult people in our lives too, (to love kindness), and to exude the virtue of humility in all conversations and interactions (walk humbly with your God)? Well, a couple of things would happen.

First, to be Christians exercising fair and impartial treatment to all, to love the practice of kindness to all, and to walk humbly (transparent before God) would show the world Biblical Christianity, not a 21st century fabrication based on what we think, maybe even want, Christianity to be. One of the glaring indictments on Christians, and one I believe is warranted, is we lack the practice of what we profess. We say, but don’t consistently do. We proclaim the Gospel without living lives affirming the Gospel. In a world engulfed in depression and despair, people are looking for real hope, and Christians who are lukewarm, inconsistent, and worldly send a message not of empowering hope, but of discouraging confusion. Sadly, too many Christians show partiality in relationships, are rude, not kind, and put forth more the bad fruit of pride, not humility. The evidence of the latter is how self-centered we live. Pride screams and orients all of life around me, my, and mine. Humility whispers and orients all of life around Him and others. And the Gospel destroys pride producing humility. We will know how much impact the Gospel is having in our lives by the decreasing of pride and increasing of humility.

Another thing we would see transformed by Christians living lives doing justice, loving kindness, and humbly walking with the Lord is our local churches. The local church is to be a loving and safe haven for believers to be nurtured, cared for, and spiritually grow. It should also be an outpost of truth and love for sinners to find Christ. This is the wisdom God ordains for His church manifested in local, visible gatherings of His people. It is us, His people, carrying forth His mission – The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor (Luke 4:18-19).

So, as we started painting this picture of what would happen if we, as God’s people, lived the virtues in today’s scriptures, let’s go from painting the picture to making the picture come alive by action – actions of doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly with our God. He might send revival as a result!

PRAYER: “Father, grant me the discernment to walk with You being impartial, kind and humble in all my relationships.”
QUOTE: “Don’t make the Christian life what it isn’t. Strive to be fair with all, kind to all, and humble before our God.”

Because of Him,
Pastor Jim