This week my digital art students are working on creating a personal crest which represents something about themselves. One aspect they must incorporate is something or someone they value. What you value is important to reflect on because it influences your decisions and actions. What else drives your choices, thoughts, and behaviors? How do you know what to think or do in any given situation or relationship? If you align your values with God’s, he will give you the wisdom and ability to do what’s right and good.
In the Bible, the prophet Micah wrote, “He has shown you, O mortal, 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). I implore you to follow God’s lead and do what’s right even when it is costly or no one is looking. Receive God’s grace and mercy and extend it to others. Grace and mercy are two peas in the pod of God’s love. Grace is giving something that is undeserved. Mercy is withholding punishment that is deserved. Both involve loving, empathizing, and forgiving instead of condemning and holding a grudge. Jesus taught that in all things we should love God and love others (Matthew 22:34-40).
Sometimes doing good, acting justly, or loving mercy is not natural, easy, or clear. Here are seven practical things you can do to help you understand God’s will and follow through in carrying it out.
- Repent and receive God’s salvation. Confess your wrongdoing and accept God’s forgiveness. Then enjoy new, everlasting life with him (1 John 1:5-9; John 1:9-14; 2 Corinthians 5:14-21).
- Thank God. Recognizing and praising God for his love and salvation helps you see the world properly. Assured of your identity as his child you can face trials courageously, make decisions wisely, and interact with people effectively.
- Listen to, trust, and obey God as you pray, rest, study the Bible, share the truth, and humbly depend on him. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5-6).
- Serve others. Give of yourself as a living sacrifice. Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13).
- Let God live through you. The apostle Paul told the believers in Rome, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will (Romans 12:1-2).
- Live up to what you already know. Don’t worry about what you don’t know, just take one step in line with what you do know. Then God will reveal the next step. Walk by faith not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7).
- Seek to save the lost as Jesus leads you. Teach those who listen to the truth you share and train those who respond (Matthew 28:18-20). God is calling you not to live for yourself, but rather for him and the benefit of others (Matthew 5-6). Keep that mission at the forefront of your thoughts and it will guide you in using your time, talents, treasure, and tasks for lasting good. Being involved in God’s ministry of reconciliation not only saves others, but it is one of the most powerful ways he transforms you to become like Jesus, which is your grandest destiny.
I encourage you to place your greatest value in knowing and loving God. Then you will have the wisdom and power to be your best and do your best good, not for yourself, but for God and others. As you humbly walk with God acting justly and extending mercy, many times you will need to put aside what’s comfortable, convenient, or common and carry the cross. As it was for Jesus, the way of the cross involves abandonment, discomfort, struggle, sacrifice, and pain because God’s way runs contrary to the ways of this fallen world (Luke 9:23-25). Although it can hurt, hardship is healthy. It trains you in holiness and forces you to rely on God who is always with you (Hebrews 12:7-14). On your quest of grace and justice, sometimes God will tell you exactly what to do or not do. Other times you will have a number of options, but no explicit direction from God. In those cases you will need to draw from the principles God has given in the Bible to discern which path to take. At all times keep a motivation of love, a commitment to truth, and a purpose of joyfully furthering the gospel for God’s glory and the blessing of others.