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Scripture and Emotions Part 2 Justice -Fairness

I want to start this off by saying up front. I am not a theologian , I did not graduate from seminary. So the contents of this blog, as are most blogs, stem from perception, interpretation and personal experience. That being said: I hope you find encouragement if you are one whose mind goes back and forth between scripture and the feelings and emotions you are experiencing. 

First, upon writing, we must first consider that there are multiple translations of bibles. And we must take into consideration that each one of us sees the world through our own bias’ and life experience, which influences our interpretation of scripture.

 

What is Justice:  For the sake of this topic here is the definition :

jus·tice
ˈjəstəs/
noun
 
  1. just behavior or treatment.
    “a concern for justice, peace, and genuine respect for people”
    synonyms: fairness, justness, fair play, fair-mindedness, equity, evenhandedness, impartiality, objectivity, neutrality, disinterestedness, honesty, righteousness, morals, morality

    “I appealed to his sense of justice”

    So, Justice and fairness will be put in the same category.

    For the majority of my life. I lived with a one track, black and white mind.

    If I treated you fairly, I expected you to treat me fairly.

    If I followed the rules and had a “genuine respect for people”, I expected them to have the same response back to me.

    Treat others how you want to be treated.

    In my mind, I added to the statement. : Treat others how you want to be treated, and they will treat you the same way. 

    For example. Treat others with respect and kindness, and they will treat you with respect and kindness too.

    Go out of your way to help someone in need, and the favor will be returned to you.

    I scratch your back, and you’ll scratch mine. Right?

    Let me tell you  right up front, this expectation I have had has caused a lot of suffering.

    See, I do strive for peace. I do strive to show respect, righteousness, evenhandedness.

    I just saw that a synonym for justice is neutrality and it is ruining my blog at the moment and my way of  thinking. BOO.

    But I’m going to continue. Cause I can.

    Because here is the thing. I have a deep seeded belief that everyone can, should and will respond in a respectful, tactful , genuine way. Because if I can. So can they.

    So, I did the same thing with Justice that I did with the previous blog. I searched scripture. Here is what I found.

     

    Isaiah 20: 18 – Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you. Therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord is a Lord of Justice. Blessed are all who wait for him.

When I read this verse , mind automatically gets confused because I do not see justice as a compassionate concept.

However, if you look at the definition at the top, and substitute the definition for the word it reads this.

Isaiah 20: 18 – Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you. Therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord has  “a concern for justice, peace, and genuine respect for people”. Blessed are all who wait for him.

Well crap. There goes my defense.

Here’s another one.

Isaiah 61:8 – For I the Lord love justice. I hate robbery and wrong doing. In my faithfulness I will reward my people and make an everlasting covenant with them.

See, here is the hard part. The part I struggle getting through my head:

In all of this , is the concept of Choice.

From my understanding, Yes, God hates robbery and wrong doing. He wants people to make healthy, peaceful choices. But he will not make you make those choices.

And so , if God won’t make us make those choices:

What gives me the right to think that I can make people make those choices?

PS. Im not God. We’d all be screwed if I was.

I’m going to end with one more scripture. Sorry this blog is so long.

Isaiah 61:1-4

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
    because the Lord has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
    to proclaim freedom for the captives
    and release from darkness for the prisoners,[a]
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
    and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
3     and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
    instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
    instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
    instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
    a planting of the Lord
    for the display of his splendor.

4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins
    and restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities
    that have been devastated for generations.

Man, I’d rather focus on doing that.

The cool thing in all of this is, Justice is good. But It’s not my job to carry what I cannot control.

In retrospect , this is a huge lift of a burden that I have been carrying for a while now.

No matter what your faith background, or if you do not practice a faith.

None of us are meant to carry the weight of making sure everything is done right and everyone is making the “right” choices.

We can only control our actions and responses.

Sometimes I don’t even handle those well. You have no Idea how hard I’m trying not to erase this blog right now.

Dang..

Well Be encouraged Friends,

Rachael

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