As a Christian, This is How I Understand the Idea of Balance in the Religious Life

[jennifer_bloom]

I've been trying to understand God's justice for a long time and there is a lot to learn. It always puzzled me why it took so long for God to teach me these things. However, today I came to a conclusion about why it takes time to learn God's justice

When a person walks, they have two feet, a right foot and a left foot. If someone were to walk only on their right foot or only on their left foot they would end up tripping and falling and might need to sit permanently in a wheel chair. People can't walk without being balanced evenly between both feet.

In the same way, a person needs both justice and mercy in order to walk properly with God.

When you have too much mercy but not enough justice you become a passive victim to your circumstances and end up getting killed, used, taken advantage of, exploited, destroyed and robbed as the evil people in this life overwhelm you with their demands. You will be without property, without time to sleep or rest and without any self-respect.

But if you have too much justice and not enough mercy you will end up wanting to destroy and kill and hate everybody who commits even the most minor of sins because you will conclude that these people are unworthy of the grace and love that you share with God. However, maybe this idea of equal balance isn't complete. Maybe mercy should outweigh justice to a certain extent so that you can still forgive somebody who acts wrongfully.

I also believe that when Jesus performed miracles on earth that the currency of miracles is mercy. Without mercy there can be no miracles and if you do not show mercy towards others it is very unlikely God will show any mercy to you. If you don't love others or love God, it is very unlikely you will see miracles in your life either.

Why do people in poor countries experience more miracles? They have fewer material distractions and it's easier to love God when you don't have fancy cars or houses or vacation resorts competing with your desire to bless and love and help your neighbours. So mercy comes from elevating the spiritual above the physical and elevating the physical life above one's acquisition of material property.

To me mercy is about more than just forgiving sins, it also means removing all suffering of any kind at all. When you give a sandwich to a homeless person or a child, when you move to the back of the bus so an older person can sit in your seat, you are demonstrating mercy. Even minor acts can be merciful and Jesus said the one who is not merciful in small situations will not be merciful in big situations either while the one who is merciful in small situations will also be merciful in big situations.

So you have to be just but you also have to be merciful. Justice without mercy is cruel and leads you to hate others. Mercy without Justice is destructive and leads to you hating yourself.

[dandee55]

Nice job -- though the downside is: there should be a scripture reference or two.
"What does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." (Micah 6:8)
But I agree with @levantine99: 'we are supposed to "love our enemies", so mercy should indeed outweigh justice.'

[thatguyfromtoronto]

I am a firm believer in God and it's sad how many atheists are out there and don't follow the words of God. People back in the day, during the time of Jesus, knew his importance but there were people who disregarded him because they wanted to live in their own defined world without religion. As a Muslim, even the Quran states, that there will be a time when the 12th imam emerges and restores peace and justice on earth for about 8 years, around this time is when an antichrist will emerge with an army of 70,000 around the middle-east, this man (the anti-christ) will lead people astray and on the wrong path... he won't live long on earth. The Quran states, Jesus, will descend from heaven and kill this anti-christ.

Jesus will serve for 20-40 years to help the people, after that, more and more faith is taken away, until the earth is just filled with hateful people, people acting like animals, no religious people exist and this will be the end of time on earth. Eventually, everyone dies, when the trumpet is blown, God will ask who remains and there will be 1 angel remaining and that will be it... the day of judgment starts and our souls are now judged by the creator of all creators.

People can read this post and lash out at me but at the end of the day, I don't care about that, I have to make God proud not random users on GAG.

[Anonymous]

I agree with the story. I am not trying to bash anyone's beliefs but a life without Jesus Christ is no life at all without God none of us or anything would exist
We're here on earth and all ethnicities living together trying to get along and no matter how hard people may want it there's always going to be people in this world who cause issues and it's like living with a friend you grew up with and are best friends. Sooner or later the two of you will get sick and tired of the tiniest little things the other one does and then that leads to arguing and eventually best friends sometimes become enemies and this is not true for everyone but the world is kinda the same everyone has there own beliefs and standards that they believe the world should be living up to which is impossible to expect and wrong to judge. Everyone needs to find a common ground an d accept certain things will be as they are and get a long best we can and create peace throughout our world and be merciful and caring and stop and think about more than ourselves.

[Mr_Smile]

My personal view on religion is that it's very subjective. People make of it what they want, which is evidenced by the fact that you have a very different view on Christianity than many other Christians out there. Sometimes it can be harmful, but other times, it can be beneficial. I personally don't believe in any religion, I choose to stand on my own two feet and rely on my own strength, rather than believeing in what I believe to be a fantasy, however it's people like you that remind me that religion isn't all bad. I've never been convinced to converting and probably never will, but when I see that people like you exist, it puts a smile on my face, because it shows how a positive view on religion and can lead to a positive outlook on life, and I get the feeling you are generally a nice girl with a positive outlook on life.

[capturemyheartnow]

God's Mercy and Justice work together in Salvation. Justice involves the dispensing of deserved Punishment for Wrong Doing. But , Mercy involves giving Pardon and Compassion for an offender. Law is followed and that justice is provided. God's Mercy is shown through his Justice to make room for Mercy. God extends his Mercy to the undeserving sinners who look to him for Salvation. Penalty for sin is paid through Christ's sacrifice on the Cross. So our Redemption comes because of Christ Jesus. God is Gracious and Merciful :slow to anger and great in loving Kindness. Our sins were punished through Christ's Death on the Cross. So we deserve to receive Mercy from God because , we believe In Christ's Sacrifice done for US ALL. This Mercy is extended to all of us who Believe what Christ has done for Us. So we are Justified by his Blood shed on the Cross. So we are saved from God's wrath from all our sins. -----This way Justice and Mercy work together for all of us to Gain Salvation.

[Anonymous]

While i agree with you that a balance have to be had between justice and mercy, i think justice must be above all and everything else, i don´t care for killing people whose one and only purpose in life is making everyone´s else lives miserably, if i had the power to wipe them all out of existence at the same instant i would gladly do it, i am more concerned in protecting people that are being exploited and enslaved without even realizing it, like the majority of human population, than to be fair and nice to the mother fuckings that are making this slavery and profiting from it, these i would kill with immense pleasure and after that i would still send them to the absolute nothingness for they to spend the whole of eternity in the middle of nowhere, it is what they deserve and if i could be the one to apply the sentence i would gladly do it and rid this universe of beings that just exist to make everything poor and miserably.

[AlexEfron]

"Why do people in poor countries experience more miracles?" - it's not that way actually. There are myriad miracles everywhere. You just need to have the eye to see one. The problem is the definition of miracle ~ we term anything extraordinary as a miracle, but what about the daily lives - everything that happen naturally is a miracle in itself. From the existence of a universe to the minute electrons attracting or repelling each other, the of light from fires to the eyes of creatures perceiving each light in a different way. Everything is a miracle if you're keen enough to try and search for it.

Nice take though 👍

[RationalMale]

Hmm. God is indeed a God of Justice and Mercy.

God did provide for the poor--such as laws about how people would harvest their fields, so the poor could take a small portion. Meaning they had to actually work to get the food, it wasn't delivered to their door.

God also believed in mercy--just look at Jesus, who spared the unfaithful wife who was going to be stoned.

Yet God also commanded the Hebrews to exterminate the people living in Israel and slaughter them all, as well as commanding them to not intermarry. Doesn't fit with our popular notions of "God is love!" and "we need to let all refugees come here! It's the Christian thing to do!" does it?

[mrsterlingarcher]

I believe God and the Bible have as much to do as the Founding fathers have to do with Obama, Hillary, Trump and Bush.

I know it seems like a ridiculous comparison but my point is, the word of God coming from heavens and unto the earth has been deformed and distorted by humans, even by the disciples of Jesus himself. Just like the founding fathers' pure ideas have been twisted, forgotten or ignored over the course of history.

It's one example

God doesn't hate gays. Or video games. Or parties. Or music. Or people who have sex before marriage. He has views on them and generally, you kinda feel them. If you drink too much, you become an alcoholic. If you have sex with many people and don't commit to anyone, it hurts your soul. It only becomes sinful when you use it to justify evil and mean acts.

So yeah. It's all in balance. And I'm sure God has as much common sense as we do.

[TheWombRaider]

I agree with you... in some aspects but Justice is not the right word... Mercy and or Grace is... With out the Law the 10 commandments.. their is no right or wrong no Sin... Man was not held accountable because God had not said this was wrong...

A men fall short of the law so Grace and Mercy are freely given... In the eyes of God.. there is no such thing as greater or lesser crimes or sins...

a lie, murder, Adultery, and so forth are all Equal... in the eyes of the Lord.. Sin is Sin... God can not be around Sin for he is Holy... and as to Miracles in poor countries... Yes... God is more viable...

That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
2 Corn 12:10 this is Fact... because in these circumstances you realize and learn to depend 100 percent on God...

[levantine99]

yes poor and simple people's hearts are more open to God. our western hearts are prideful, drowning in material possessions and frozen.
and yes you can't be a doormat or the evil within people will consume you entirely. Christ said to be clean like a dove in your heart but clever like a snake. its a balance, the christian cannot be completely beta or he won't even survive, especially if you have the responsibility of a family.

[levantine99]

and yes your concept is theologically incomplete or even inaccurate. we are supposed to "love our enemies", so mercy should indeed outweigh justice. but even this is a simplification. spiritual truths can only be experienced not rationalised in my opinion. they are beyond rational limitations. truth is revealled gradually as the person progresses in Christ. i'm not prrotestant so i don't do the whole, insta-salvation thingy... .

[i1T2daty]

I don't think you can give any concept of god characteristics such as justiice, I didn't read everything you wrote but what. If you are referring toi the god in the Judaeo-Christo tradition, that God is supposed to be over mercy and forgiveness. In trues spiritual love all is forgiven

[downtofu]

Agree with less is more philosophy. I don't think many people will. Some people call it "being content" which leads to happiness but the world calls it submission and focuses on the other aspect of happiness "pleasure", which will eventually run out FAST. Balance is key, it's also called equilibrium and it applies to almost everything, including human psychology, economy, law, religion etc.

Oh well, I'll carry this secret to my grave then lol. Nice mytake.

-non religious

[booksugar]

Very good take I agree with it
But unfortunately most people are careless and would never get a sandwich for a homeless person (I always prefer that to giving them money so that I can make sure they aren't drug addicts that will use the money to get their dose)

[Cosytoasty]

Well if I tried to tell someone in a poor country the weather for next week using the weather app on my phone, they would call it a miracle.

Lack of understanding of the sciences leads to miracles.

[bubble_tea]

"Why do people in poor countries experience more miracles?" - Actually I'd think they experiences more miracles, because they are more likely uneducated in many subjects... so a shooting star is a miracle to them, as is rain after a dry period.

[Dchrls78104]

According to the Bible, God is both just and merciful. Think, for example, about Judgement Day. God will destroy the wicked and preserve the just. The destruction of the wicked will be just on His part and mercy to those who have been hurt by them. Since most wicked people wouldn't like to live under God anyway, as He would constantly embarrass their immorality or idolatry, He would be merciful to them if He were to destroy them too.

[IlyaTheImpaler]

Okay it's a balancing act between being just and being merciful, I love the analogy, but how does that answer the question of why it took so long to learn this idea...😂 humans learn to walk pretty quickly, quicker than graduating high school

[jennifer_bloom]

Because you can't increase in justice without first increasing in mercy too - so it takes extra time to learn both

[IlyaTheImpaler]

I am interested in God's justice after reading this :)

[Neardark06]

I grew up Catholic I am now Agnostic I believe in Evolution but I also believe that there has got to be some sort of Creator and if thats the Christian God I am fine with that. Its just life is a mystery ya know?

[Annie_Mosity]

I'm very anti religion, especially Christianity but I have to say I LOVE your take. One of the best I've read on GaG. You don't have to believe in any sort of deity to take the points on board.

[DaddyRollingStone]

Being merciful does not mean allowing people to avoid responsibility, I hate that many Christians use the Bible as excuses to be inept donothings with no backbone