Act Justly, Love Mercy, Walk Humbly

Micah 6:8 (NIV)
And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

I want to end this week by focusing on the call that God spoke through Micah to the people of Israel. It calls us not only to live in certain ways, but also to have a sense of who we are in relation to God and others. We are to act towards others in a way which is respectful and loving, bringing out their best and encouraging them to see themselves as God sees them. We are to ‘walk humbly’, not having a falsely low perception of ourselves, instead understanding our role as worshippers of God and lovers of those around us. 

Our call is to serve our God and our neighbour, which comes from a healthy knowledge of our identity as created, fallen, pursued, saved, beloved children of God. Our calling as followers of Christ is all about understanding who we are, who our God is, and the ways in which we can serve him through our loving treatment of others. The specifics of everyone’s calling will be different, and that’s okay. We can’t all perform the same function (1 Corinthians 12:27-31). But this basic calling functions as the bedrock.

In this short series of devotionals, I don't want to sound unrealistic about the challenges of the Christian life. I’m acutely aware of the difficulties we face this side of eternity – mental health struggles, relational difficulties, work stress, lack of time, money trouble – I just simply wanted to lay bare some of our unhealthy misconceptions about God's calling on our lives. When we go back to basics, God’s calling on our lives is very clear. We just have to decide to obey him and set our face to follow Jesus.

Prayer – Thank you, Lord, that you love us. Thank you that you’ve set us free from the burdens of sin and shame, and that we can live in freedom as your children. Help us to rely on your strength as we try to love our neighbour better, and act in ways which glorify you.