Justice And Mercy And Recovery

Depending on a given situation, we often find ourselves caught up in the conflict of our desire for justice or mercy.  For those who wrong us, we lean towards the desire for justice.  When we assess our own failures, we long for mercy. 

He [God] loves whatever is just and good; the unfailing love of the Lord fills the earth.  (Psalm 33:5 NLT) 

Justice and mercy are both aspects of God’s character.  For justice to be justice the guilty must be punished.  We are all sinners.  We have all broken God’s laws.  We all stand guilty. God cannot ignore our wrongdoing.  We have harmed ourselves, others, and our relationship with God.  We have trampled carelessly over precious things that matter to God.  Our sin must be punished with its stated penalty which is death.  Jesus mercifully paid the debt we owed by dying on the cross in our place and gave us life with Him forevermore. 


When people sin, they earn what sin pays—death. But God gives his people a free gift—eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
  (Romans 6:23 ERV)

Without a clear picture of our own sinfulness and its awful consequences we will never find it in our hearts to be merciful to others.  It is only because of our deep gratitude for God’s forgiveness of our sin that we can forgive others as we have been forgiven.

 As those who live with God in recovery, we now take a daily inventory of the days happenings to check if we are doing what is right, if we are showing mercy, and if we are walking humbly with God.  Where we have done wrong, we promptly admit it, allow God to show mercy to us, and grant us His forgiveness.

The Lord has shown you what is good.  He has told you what he requires of you. You must act with justice.  You must love to show mercy and you must be humble as you live in the sight of your God.  (Micah 6:8 NIRV)

Prayer:  Loving God, No one knows about justice and mercy like You do.  Thank You for taking care of the just requirements for my sin by giving Jesus in my place to pay in full all that I owe.  The love and mercy You have for me is amazing.  Please help me to show to others the same love and mercy I have received.  Amen

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