Just

Characteristics of Integrity (Part II)

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When we live a life of integrity, we know we are pleasing to God and can sleep better at night. On the other hand, a lack of integrity brings God’s displeasure and causes anxiety and fear in the heart of the person.

Dishonest scales are an abomination to the Lord, But a just weight is His delight. Proverbs 11:1

If we were to measure our integrity based on what people around us are doing, we may look very upright and moral. However, the world continues to go downhill morally, and they cannot be the measuring stick or the standard for integrity. Living a life of integrity requires us to learn God’s instructions and apply them to our lives.

The truth is that while integrity is not a highly esteemed value in our society, we cannot afford to live without it. We need to trust people with their skills to provide a safe and good service, and others expect the same thing from us.

For example, when you take your car to a mechanic, you are trusting that they have changed the parts they charged you for and that your car is safe to drive.  If you go to a restaurant, you trust that they have done their due diligence to have a clean environment, and they have washed and prepared the food properly before serving you the meal. If you are married, you need to trust each other and know that your spouse is being honest in all areas of their lives. We all want people to use just weights when they are dealing with us. No one wants to be cheated, lied to, or taken advantage of.

The above scripture tells us that God is pleased with those who act rightly, but He sees dishonesty as an abomination. It’s interesting how so many Christians can quickly talk about other people’s abominable lifestyles, but they generally do not think of dishonesty as an abominable sin. 

Joyful are people of integrity, who follow the instructions of the Lord. Psalm 119:1 (NLT)

One of the characteristics of someone with integrity is joy. Because they follow God’s instructions and know that they are pleasing to God, there is joy in their lives. The Joy and the peace of God go hand-in-hand. We can have a peaceful life when we live in integrity. It is estimated that 33% to 50% of the population deals with chronic insomnia. I wonder if some of it is related to lack of integrity and the torment that it brings.

Furthermore, as God’s people, our integrity has to be non-negotiable. Our honesty can win other people’s trust.  At first, they may not like us, assuming that we are Bible thumpers and judgmental people. However, if we are living with integrity and the joy of the Lord, they’ll eventually be able to see the truth about our lives. They will see that we just want to please God and live a simple life of integrity and humility before God.

Joseph is a good example of a man with integrity. He paid a price to remain a person of integrity, but he continued to remain steady in Character and integrity. This pleased God and opened the door for Joseph to get elevated to the second-highest in command in Egypt.

Living a life of integrity keeps our conscience clear, and we are not tormented or in anguish about living a hypocritical life. While integrity has a cost associated with it, there is a great joy to know that we are living life according to God’s precepts and we are pleasing Him with our lives!

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Being a Just Person (Part II)

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Both sides must be heard

True Justice cannot be established unless both sides of the situation are heard. Sometimes even enough time needs to be given for truth of the matter to be unfolded.

We have to keep in mind that generally both sides have issues to work on and most of the time the situation is not one-sided. People can perceive and see a lot of things, but ultimately as a just person we can’t deal with people on a subjective level trying to figure out their motives or prophetically label someone when there is no evidence to back it up. We’re called to evaluate the situation objectively and impartially based on the facts given by both sides.

You may ask, “How can I know both sides since only one of the parties told me their story?” If you have not been picked by both people to judge the situation, then you don’t have the place to judge the situation. Someone has crossed the line to get you involved, and the best thing to do is to encourage that person to follow Matthew 18:15 and talk to the other person. If that doesn’t work, they can involve someone that both sides respect to be a mediator. If you are drawing judgment on a situation without hearing both sides or being invited by both sides you are involved in gossip, not justice!!!

Sometimes people want to speak to us and get our advise or counsel in how to handle a situation. First of all, we need make sure it’s not turning into a gossip or venting session. Also, since we’re only hearing one side of the story, we have to be careful not to assume that we have all the facts or that the issues are expressed and communicated objectively. We have to leave room for the unknown element which is the other person’s view/story. It requires caution counseling someone in those situations. This is especially dangerous in advising/counseling a married person when you haven’t heard their spouse’s side of the story.

Solomon was a good model of judging justly

Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?”1Kings 3:9

Solomon prayed for an understanding heart to judge the people of God. Having an understanding heart is being thoughtful, empathetic, and considerate of others. It’s also having extra sensitivity to the needs of others and trying to put ourselves in somebody else’s shoes.

Solomon understood that stewarding the assignment is a huge undertaking because he is dealing with God’s people who are His special treasure. When we look at people as His treasure, we will evaluate them differently. Jesus was willing to die for a sinful world. The scriptures says, “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8b We need to ask God to give us eyes to see people’s value in spite of their sin, so we can judge them soundly.

Are you willing to be evaluated based on your standard of judgment!?

“Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” Luke 6:37-38

The last thing we need to consider, is that judging is not something we should easily or casually get involved in. It has a high price associated with it. For the scripture says that with the same measure that we use, it will be measured back to us. An analogy for this would be if we set a new law for our city and decide that anyone speeding should go to jail for a day. Well, that sounds great and makes us feel safe until we cross that line and are caught speeding. Now the same law that we established for others, we will be judged according to it to as well. It’s a good reminder of Jesus commanding us to “love your neighbor as yourself.” We have to make the effort to put ourselves in that situation and ask the question, “How do I want to be treated or judged if I were in that situation?

If we want to be influencers in our society and affect change, we need to be standard bearers for true justice. While our legal system has many issues to work on, there are actually some things we can learn from it in this area.

When was the last time you put your own personal preferences aside and took pains to really understand both sides of the story before drawing  a conclusion? Let’s each of us take the responsibility to be just and impartial people.

 

Being a Just Person (Part I)

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The Lord is a God of Justice and he desires for His people to be just people. If you are a believer, being a just person is not optional; It is our calling and mandate from the Lord!

In Hebrews, many times the same word is used for “justice” as it is for “righteousness”.

Justice defined in Hebrew (H6664 & H6666): what is right or just or normal, rightness, justness (of weights and measures), of judges, rulers, kings, of God’s attribute, righteousness, justice (in case or cause), rightness (in speech), righteousness (as ethically right).

That tells us that we can’t be righteous apart from being just. Jesus ultimately fulfilled and completed the righteousness and the justice of God on the cross. As His followers, we are called to pursue righteousness and justice and set His standard on the earth.

To be a just person requires the following:

 Accept what God calls true and just

We have to be rightly aligned with God and His truth. We need to see Him as the ultimate judge of the earth. He declares what is right and wrong in His word, and we need to be willing to lay down our values, fears, and preferences to accept His judgment on everything.

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Mercy and truth go before Your face. Psalm 89:14

The above scripture clearly tells us that His authority is established on justice and righteousness. God is a God of justice. He abhors injustice and false scales. Since God is patient, we may not necessarily see His justice exercised right away because He is also a redeeming God. His mercy balances His justice in that He gives man the opportunity to change His ways, to repent, and to accept His son as atonement for his condition.

We see in the case of Jesus, while he was brutally crucified, God did not judge those who put Him on the cross at that moment. To this day, many question Jesus’ authority and Him being the savior of the world. Someday, it will become clear to humanity that He was, [the way, the truth, and the life], [no one comes to the Father except through Him], and [every knee shall bow before Him]. In the meantime, God is giving opportunity for each person to make that decision before the Day of Judgment comes.

Rightly relate to people

To do righteousness and justice. Is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice. Proverbs 21:3

The Lord cares very much about being a just person. We may love Him and do very many things for Him, but He is looking for those who are living and operating in justice and fairness towards others.

One of the most challenging things about being a just person is that we can develop opinions about someone for the better or for worse based on our perception or limited experience with them. If they are our friends/family, we can quickly jump to defend them. If they are someone that we don’t like or feel close to, we may assume that they are in the wrong. As people of God to be just people and to evaluate a situation justly, we have to lay aside our prejudices and preferences, so can relate to people as Jesus did and represent Him accurately to people!

I was on jury duty a couple of months ago. It was my first time, and I was really impressed by the painstaking process that they went through to pick the jury.

They were looking for people who

  1. Didn’t know either party involved
  2. Didn’t have a prejudice towards their ethnicity or them not being able to speak English
  3. Had not heard about this case through other sources such as online or newspaper
  4. Since the case involved property management, tenant, and ownership, they made sure none of us had any negative feelings towards bad tenants or bad property management.
  5. In the case of jurists with spouses in law enforcement, they asked if they had heard of any rental incidents that their spouse might have told them to skew their perception of the situation.

They actually dismissed quite a few people before they finalized the twelve jurists. While it was about a day process to pick the jury, I really appreciated the process. I understood that they were trying to create an environment that gives each person a fair chance for their side to be heard. They were trying to pick a jury to be impartial enough to ensure they are evaluating the case based on its merit and not their knowledge of the person/situation.

According to Wikipedia, “Since the 15th century, Lady Justice has often been depicted wearing a blindfold. The blindfold represents objectivity, in that justice is or should be meted out objectively, without fear or favor, regardless of identity, money, power, or weakness; blind justice and impartiality.”

All of the above descriptions should be even truer about the people of God. However, I’m sorry to say that as believers we have a lot of room to grow in this area. We can be very sloppy with our judgment of a situation or a person. People have a tendency to show favoritism to those they know and become partial in their actions or words. On the other hand, out of the fear of reprisal some don’t say or do anything to stand for righteousness when they need to speak, especially when justice is not meted out for the underdog.

Does the Lord consider you a just person?

When people think of you, do they see you as a fair and objective person, or do they think of you as a partial person who takes the sides with those you know/like?