“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8)
It’s funny how the simplest directives can also be the hardest.
Like when I tell my kids to not fight with each other. Or when I ask for 15 minutes of quiet time. Or when I tell myself to wake up just five minutes earlier than usual.
These seem easy enough to follow, but the fights still happen, I scarcely get two minutes alone before someone is calling for Mom, and I am a champion snoozer.
Like the simple requests we make each day that are disregarded, the requirements stated in this verse can be hard to follow.
Doing justice seems easy enough for the law-abiding citizen…except when someone does something against us and our first instinct is revenge rather than fairness, retribution rather than peace.
Loving kindness is also not difficult, as we all love to be treated kindly. But how about treating others with kindness? Taking a few minutes to help a stranger, to find change for the man asking for bus fare, to give up something we’ve been saving to help another — these can be hard.
To walk humbly with God is challenging when we often want to take credit for our good choices and positive results. How do we set aside pride and selfishness when they are practically written in our DNA?
Living our faith is not an easy task. Putting aside instinctive behaviors and thinking of others first, walking with God instead of ahead of Him, requires us to make conscious decisions with intentional actions.
The good news is that the more often we do this, the easier it becomes. There will always be times when we stumble, but like a muscle that is exercised regularly, our good intentions become bigger and stronger.
As you go into this week, spend some time working your faith muscles. Exercise them at work, at home, and in your community. You may be surprised by the choices that you make.
Have a blessed Monday!
Leave a Reply