Last week we saw an organized march with multitudes of women expressing their right for equality and today many in our society are marching for the unborn who never had a chance to enter life and express their thoughts. Both sides of any dispute are completely convinced they are right and desperately want to show people the light. As I watch the faces and the signs in these marches and hear the reports on the news it is so interesting to see the measure of passion in each person. The fire that fuels passion will many times be their concept of justice. Other times fear can ignite passion.

Justice is defined as; “Fairness in protection of rights and punishment of wrongs.” It’s an important word that we hear often in our current society. The word justice also is defined as “the quality of being just: fairness, the principle of moral rightness; decency.” Wikipedia adds, “Justice is the legal or philosophical theory by which fairness is administered. The concept of justice differs in every culture.” Now that can be a problem!

If a person suffered from injustice through out their life, they will stand up and speak up when other’s may let something slide. Justice reaches deep into the heart of the person who was on the receiving end of an unjust act. I can’t count the times my husband has reminded me how much I think about justice. There have been moments I could have put myself in harms way in order to help someone that was being hurt. When our children were small I was observing an argument in the parking lot of our apartment building. The disagreement between the man and woman was escalating and beginning to get physical. I began frantically beating on the window until my husband pulled me back onto the couch for my own safety. There’s something in me that screams for the underdog or the one being treated unjustly. I’m sure the intensity of my feelings come from the abusive experiences I endured as a child. It pushes a button when something unfair or unjust takes place. Another consequence of experiencing injustice is an over responsible conscious. “Over my dead body” could be the cry of our hearts when we see someone experiencing discomfort especially when it is not deserved.

Many years ago I decided to go to the “good book” and just see what it had to say about justice. Wow, was I surprised at how many times the word appeared in the Bible. And then it hit me, “I am my father’s daughter!” Justice is important to me because justice is important to HIM! So who can really explain justice and fairness? Psalm 11:7 tells us, “For the Lord is righteous, he loves justice. Job 34:12, “It is unthinkable that God would do wrong, that the Almighty would pervert justice. Psalm 89:14 says, “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne. Lovingkindness and truth go before you.” So many times we are missing a very important ingredient as we try to exemplify justice. That ingredient is truth. In the day and time that we live we have to check out every news report or post to make sure it is grounded in truth. Facts can become shifting sand beneath our feet. To be true to justice we have to be true to the truth. People can be full of sincerity and be sincerely wrong.  Jesus said, “I am the way, the life and the truth.” I don’t know about you but I’m glad it isn’t up to me to decide truth.  My Heavenly Father is the only one who can judge fairly because He not only knows truth but is truth. Problems arise when my perspective on a particular subject is one sided and therefore blinding me to any other view. I want to encourage you to always pray a simple prayer when you are certain of a particular view. “Heavenly Father, what is the truth? Open my eyes to what I cannot see.”

Every single person has a unique and personal grid that they see life through. This grid was created by many sources including family of origin, experiences, events, hurts etc. We can only see things through our own grid.  What looks like justice to one person looks anything but justice to another person. So it is my desire to pray fervently for the God of justice to open eyes and hearts and to help each and every person realize that HE alone sees every side perfectly. He cares and loves people even more than we do. HE is love! And He is our Heavenly Father that sees everything that is going on in the world today. And HE is moving and working more than we realize. This should give us peace. I love Micah 6:8 which says, “The Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you; to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” I teach and believe with all of my heart that Jesus came to earth to give His life FOR us, in order to give His life TO us so that HE can live HIS live through us. May He give fellow human beings grace and mercy through us as we walk with other’s in this world.  Especially for those who claim to be disciples of our Lord.  The Bible is clear that they will know us by our love.