God: A Perfect Blend Between Mercy and Justice

God is loving, merciful, and compassionate. As Christians, we know that. We know that very well. In fact in some cases we know that too well. We forget that God is also just. God is perfect justice. Unfortunately, in today’s society, Christians have only focused in on the merciful side of God. We almost never recognize the just side of God. The problem with this is that when you focus in on one (mercy or justice) and do not recognize the other, that one characteristic is almost meaningless. Let me give you an example. A father tells his son that he loves him. Then, the father sees a guy committing a robbery and tells him that he loves that guy also. The father just cheapened what he told his son when he told the robber this. The reason for this is because there is not any discernment in the way that the father distributed his mercy. Justice has to be in the picture in order for true mercy to occur. This idea of focusing in on mercy and compassion has trickled down into the way we live.


Matthew 5:13 tells us that Christians are to be the “salt and light of the earth”. For the most part we all know what this verse means. It means that we are to be different from the world, be in, but not of the world. Christians are to preserve the world. Christians are supposed to make a difference and be excellent, etc. This is all good and true. Let me offer something else that many Christians tend to forget about what their duty as “salt and light”. We know that salt gives flavor, but at the same time it can be very stinging. Anyone who sweats a lot knows that when sweat gets in your eye it can sting. When salt gets in a cut, it stings. Part of our duty as Christians is to give flavor, preserve, but sometimes we may also need to sting. Jesus is the perfect example of this. He was all of things that we focus in on, but sometimes we forget that Jesus stung when he was alive. When it comes to light, light it used to guide, lead, or show the path in the dark. Yes, we get that. But light is also used to illuminate and show the evil that is going on in the darkness. Some people do not want to be in the light, but in some cases, this is our duty.

This is just a simple reminder of how we must live. This is also a reminder to not cheapen any aspect of God in order to make him look more presentable or pleasing to people. When picked apart, this will only make him less pleasing to the unbeliever.