What does God require of us? Part 2
Do Justice
I didn’t always understand justice. I thought I did- but I was wrong.
Learning God’s character through the Old Testament confronted my entire perspective.
What I called justice …. was actually shaped by my own experiences.
Here’s the truth: I didn’t even know what justice meant. I thought justice was standing up for what I felt was right.
The justice I wanted was self‑serving, rooted in emotion. I thought I was being oppressed but the truth is, I didn’t understand oppression at all.
I was oblivious to the world around me.
I was oblivious to God’s heart — the God I gave my life to.
As I examined myself, I began to realize there had been times in my life where I heard the cries of people — hungry people, hurting people, unseen people.
I wasn’t moved by the cries of humanity.
I did not have compassion, nor did I have a passion for justice outside of my own needs.
That’s hard to admit, but it was true.
Yet there I was, early in my walk, calling myself a Daughter of the King and a Christian — yet my words and my life did not reflect His heart.
My own background had made me callous. I had learned to look out for myself and survival had shaped me more than empathy.
I realized that I was rooted in my own truth and not biblical truth. Through reading my Bible I began to get to know His character.
He opened my eyes to His truth, and I began to see the world differently.
Today I see organizations mobilizing across the globe fighting for justice, advocating for justice with a militant spirit. The intensity for justice today is undeniable.
Battles in our streets like I have never seen. Battle cries heard throughout the world. Justice is loud and it is everywhere. Christian and non‑Christian groups alike — all fighting for one thing: justice.
Seeing the passion for justice raised a deep question in me: if justice is a battle cry, whose battle are we actually fighting?
Before I could answer that, I had to understand what justice really is.
Webster’s 1828 defines justice as “practical conformity to the laws and principles of rectitude.”
And rectitude means moral integrity — uprightness — aligning with God’s standard, not our own.
But here’s the truth: as Christians, we all assume that we do justice biblically. We assume that since we come from the same backgrounds, same education, and even the same families, we interpret justice the same — but what I learned is that we can have different motives.
Let me explain.
I didn’t realize that two people can live in the same environment and still have completely different convictions of justice — but Scripture shows us this clearly.
One of the biblical stories that reminds me of this is found in Exodus 3–14. It’s the story of Moses and the Pharaoh of his time.
Raised in the same house
Same education
Same environment
Different convictions
As Moses confronts Pharaoh and we read about the destruction and suffering. Cries of the people were heard throughout the land. Plague after plague .
At the sound of the cries Pharaoh’s heart remained hard. Pharaoh’s motives, as Scripture shows, were rooted in pride, fear, and a desire to maintain control. The cost of that was the well‑being of his own people. Moses and Pharaoh both wanted something — but only one was righteous. And only one could move forward victorious.
My shift
It’s easy to be wrapped up in your own world with compassion only for the things you care about. Just like Pharaoh, it is easy to have your own view of justice - your own cause that benefits you.
But what if that very cause hurts innocent people, the fatherless, the voiceless, modern‑day slaves- the very people created in HIs image? I encourage you to evaluate your motives.
What if the cause we fight for doesn’t line up with God’s character?
What if our cause is emotionally driven and not justice‑driven?
I learned that God does not like oppression over His creation. He is looking for someone to co‑labor with Him to set His people free — to partner with justice. Advocating for the voiceless, tending to the orphan and the widow, partnering in prayer for the freedom of the captives, and standing up for biblical truths.
God’s justice is not loud.
It’s rooted in His heart for people.
And as we learn His character, our convictions should shift.
May we be people who Do Justice because we know the God who is just.