Justice, Compassion, Love

Micah 6:6 - 8 raises a very important question - one we should ask often - What is pleasing & good in the sight of our God? Is it our giving, our sacrifices, songs, & various acts of service unto him? The answer - act justly, love mercy, walk humbly.

Jesus also spoke on this in Matthew 23:23 - citing justice, faith, & mercy as weightier matters of the law. Yes He did!! According to Jesus, these are more important things that we must not neglect. Paul resounded the importance of the matter in 1 Cor 13:1-3. And it is simply summed like this - without love, nothing we do - be it of good intentions or with great excellence - would matter.


I believe a shift in focus is necessary. The church, collectively, needs that. After all, the church is the body of Christ, purposed & empowered to do good & spread love on this earth. For too long we have been focusing on excelling in the duties we perform within the 4 walls of our building. Even our best 'reaching out' efforts are mostly aimed at bringing people into the church first.

I look at myself, & things I'm supposedly good at - song leading, script writing, teaching... All these are good gifts from God, but so far I've been using them effectively only within a church setting. I can think of so many good things we do within the church, but my brain gets stuck when it comes to schools, neighbourhoods, cafes, community halls, etc. It's not that we don't care - it's that we don't care enough to think more about it.

I'm not saying that excelling in church duties & in-house evangelistic programmes are wrong; I'm asking if those are the only things we know how to do.I'm talking about a shift in focus, a change of paradigm.

John 13:35 - By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.