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Justice

God is looking for righteous leaders. I want leaders who know how to speak righteously and know what justice means. I would love to see more love and compassion. I think this is a big issue for government, corporations, schools and organizations.

This is a matter of the heart. Jesus makes this clear to me. Before I actually act with injustice, I practice it in my heart. That is stunning.

Do you really speak righteously, you mighty ones? Do you judge people fairly? No, you practice injustice in your hearts; with your hands you weigh out violence in the land. | Psalm 58:1-2 (Christian Standard Bible)

The Message Bible translates it this way: Is this any way to run a country? Is there an honest politician in the house? Behind the scenes you brew cauldrons of evil, behind closed doors you make deals with demons.

The idea about injustice is perhaps broader than we think. The Hebrew word is עֶוֶֶל ˓evel, eh’-vel. It means morally evil. It implies iniquity, perverseness, unjust, unrighteousness, wickedness. Yikes, I need to be careful. Justice is important to God.

Injustice is the unnecessary and unjustified ill treatment of others, through false accusation or through the inflicting of pain or punishment. Having its origin in Satan, it works through the sinful human heart and shows itself in every sphere of life. It merits the wrath of God.

Injustice can be found, in varying degrees of intensity, in every area of human relationships. It produces exploitation and suffering, both mental and physical.

God’s hatred of injustice is seen in his vindication of its victims, his solemn warnings, his penalties against the guilty and his commands to his people to renounce it.

Consider this from the Apostle Paul:

This means one must not transgress against and take advantage of a brother or sister in this manner, because the Lord is an avenger of all these offenses, as we also previously told and warned you. For God has not called us to impurity but to live in holiness. Consequently, anyone who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit. | 1 Thessalonians 4:6-8 (Christian Standard Bible)

Source:

  1. Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Ps 58:1–2). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
  2. The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson
  3. Strong, J. (1996). The New Strong’s Dictionary of Hebrew and Greek Words. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
  4. Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (1 Th 4:6–8). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.