Less Saying, More Doing

And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:8) 
 
Yesterday, we talked about the three things the Lord requires of us as His followers: justice, mercy, and humility. Today, I want to take a closer look at what each of these words mean.  
 
The Hebrew word “mispat,” translated “justice,” means essentially to correct oppression. It is a word that occurs over 200 times in the Old Testament. Its most basic meaning is to treat people equitably. It’s what the prophet Isaiah meant in Isaiah 1:17 when he said, “Learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.” According to Deuteronomy 24:17, it is about reversing and repairing systems of oppression and domination that subjugate the poor, the marginalized, and the left out.  
 
Next, the word used for “mercy” refers to the expression of kindness towards the dispossessed. It means showing undeserved compassion and forgiveness towards another person. And the third word, “humility,” is about being free from pride. It’s about lowering yourself for the sake of raising someone else up.  
 
Together, these three words are what the Lord requires of us. But there’s a caveat. These three words are not simply words of being; they are words of action. Notice that the mandate is not to study justice, or feel love, or be humble. Instead, it’s to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly. I believe these verbal adjectives are intentional, not accidental. They are designed to move people beyond the theoretical to the practical, beyond the conceptual to the concrete, beyond the abstract to the real.  
 
So as we move forward in living out Micah 6:8, may we not just talk about justice, mercy, and humility, but may we put those words into action.