{"id":2655,"date":"2012-07-23T13:31:13","date_gmt":"2012-07-23T17:31:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/redletters\/?p=2655"},"modified":"2012-07-23T13:31:13","modified_gmt":"2012-07-23T17:31:13","slug":"doing-justice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/2012\/07\/doing-justice.html","title":{"rendered":"Doing Justice"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>“He has showed you, O Man, what is good, 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<\/em><\/p>\n

What does it mean to be a people of justice?<\/p>\n

We are required…as individuals, churches, communities, small groups…to do something to help those suffering from injustice.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

It doesn’t mean putting a bumper sticker on your car that says, “I’m a person of justice.”<\/p>\n

It doesn’t mean “liking” a Facebook post or sharing a video.<\/p>\n

It means that when you see something wrong and you have the power to make it right–you make it right. You do justice. You restore what’s been broken and destroyed.<\/p>\n

Here’s an example I often use…<\/p>\n

If there was a little girl drowning right outside your house, would you help save her?<\/p>\n

What if she was a few miles away? Or the next town over?<\/p>\n

What if she was 8,000 miles away? And what if she wasn’t drowning in water, but was drowning in abuse. Abused because she is only a little girl, and she is the head of her household. AIDS took her parents, and now she’s responsible for raising and feeding her younger siblings. But she has no money and no way to get food. So she can let them starve, or she can become a child laborer, or hunt for food every waking hour, or become a beggar, or even exchange sex for gifts or food.<\/p>\n

If you had it in your power to change that situation, would you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The truth is that it IS within our power to bring justice to that situation. As an individual, a community, or a church, we are capable of stopping that injustice.<\/p>\n

And if we can, we must.<\/strong><\/p>\n

We cannot be in all places and address all injustices at all times. But we can assess ourselves honestly before the Lord.<\/p>\n

What areas of my life am I acting justly?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

and…<\/p>\n

What situations am I being called to “act justly,” that I have not yet acted on?<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“He has showed you, O Man, what is good, 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 What does it mean to be a people of justice? 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A tireless advocate for fatherless children, Davis has spent most of his adult life calling U.S. believers to become the hands and feet of Jesus Christ to the 143 million orphans living around the world. Through those connections, thousands of orphans now have the bright and hopeful future--one that is filled with opportunities and the love of the one true Father. Davis speaks hundreds of times each year at churches and conferences, mobilizing the church to action on behalf of the poor. He is the author of four books. His most recent novel, SCARED is a fictionalized account of his first-hand experiencing living and working with orphans in Swaziland, Africa. Davis' blog is the premier resource for the latest developments in Christian orphan ministry. Davis also currently teaches courses as adjunct professor at George Fox University in Newberg, OR. When not traveling the globe, Davis resides in the mountains of Colorado in the small community of Palmer Lake. He and his wife Emily have seven children, including two adopted daughters from Russia.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/author\/tdavis"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/87"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2655"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2655\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2659,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2655\/revisions\/2659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}