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Even at birth, I was an organized, inflexible, and strong-willed girl. My first cry graced the delivery room on my mom’s due date, which was also my parent’s third anniversary. It seemed I was born to follow the rules.
I prioritized the ideal of justice far above most other moralities. For me, fair treatment, unprejudiced consequences, righteousness, and conformity to laws and truth far outweighed my ability to feel compassion and show love. Looking back, I feel sadness for that little girl. I don’t know what made her that way – so unbalanced on the side of rightness with no mercy or forgiveness to hold it in check. Perhaps it was the relational pain and broken friendships I experienced growing up that caused me to falsely believe no one could – or should – be truly compassionate. Maybe it was how my innate personality dictated a desire to color inside the lines, follow the directions, and ignore the shades of gray – the parts of life where empathy lives.
Now I’m older, likely still stubborn, and most definitely iron-willed, but I have also added experience and wisdom to the ingredients of what makes me “me.” In addition, God extended His Spirit to me. That’s a game changer. Holy love lives in me now.
So, when my husband revealed his secret double life to me five years ago, justice in my adolescent mind would have been along the lines of separation, divorce, revenge, his experiencing financial hardship, and finally the complete loss of his family. In the past, I had firmly believed in swift and logical consequences for such poor choices and wounding behaviors. I had been conditioned to look out for self and self certainly deserved better.
While the Old Testament Scriptures promote justice as an “eye for an eye,” Jesus came down duty-bound, intentionally changing how we think about things. His ideals and messages turned much of the traditional laws and religious expectations of the day on their backsides. In fact, Jesus’ appreciation of justice teaches us to turn the other cheek. Give away our cloaks. Love our enemies. The final crescendo for this new kind of justice march was the death of God’s son on a cross.
As we look at this peculiar kind of justice where a perfect Christ dies for the guilty, one thing seems abundantly clear: justice means making things right again. Its mission is to restore broken relationships. The cross is the proof. Justice repairs our relationship with God and makes worship of Him genuine and meaningful.
With this new understanding of justice, we can look through the Lord’s eyes to view any societal circumstance too. Jesus modeled this for us throughout His life, so it doesn’t have to be difficult. Look for what’s wrong and figure out how to make it right. Right in the God-fearing, God-honoring sense, not in how we think of right. No chastisement. No revenge. No hatred. Simply acting in love to fight for a justice that’s as basic as redemption.
When my husband revealed the wrongs he had done, I made a decision to lean on God and do what I could to help make it right. I fought for the marriage I wanted, the marriage I know God had envisioned for us rather than sitting in the bitter chaos of the broken marriage that had been revealed. God’s idea of justice was a marriage repaired through grace and obedience, not divorce out of expectation. Not revenge. Not lasting anger. I didn’t do this alone. My husband’s heart change strengthened by ability to let go of my worldly view of justice.
God would say justice is forgiveness.
God would say justice is generosity.
God would say justice is love and kindness to the broken, hurting, and vulnerable.
God says justice is when the enemy loses and all his plans fail in the face of Christ on the cross.
Finally, God says that justice is His to handle, not for us to enforce.
God revealed to me ... justice is not divorcing your husband. It’s divorcing your idea of what justice is and allowing me to show you an eternal justice that eclipses your plan of living your one and only life as a victim.
Prayer: Father God, thank You for the fresh perspectives Jesus brought to help us view the world through Your eyes. Thank You for clear instructions on how to model justice and the other ideals that You hold dear. I pray we continue to look to you for direction and not to any worldly views, as they are as changing as the seasons. But You, oh God, never change. You have been and always will be just AND merciful, righteous AND loving. For that we are equally grateful. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
Influenced by my prayer life, my marriage story, Zechariah 7:9, Psalm 33:5, Matthew 5:44-45, Isaiah 61:8, Romans 12:8 and 12:19, and Micah 6:8.
©2012-2016 Cortney Donelson. All rights reserved.
Cortney's book, Clay Jar, Cracked: When We're Broken But Not Shattered will be available for purchase this fall directly from the author. It will be available world-wide in bookstores and libraries through Morgan James Publishing when publicly released on March 7, 2017. Visit www.cortneydonelson.com for more information and to learn about the "I'm a Clay Jar" Encourager Class for groups! To schedule speaking engagements, please email Cortney directly.
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