He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8
It is the apostle John who tells us in 1 John 5:3 that the commands of the Lord “are not burdensome.” This is in spite of what many people, both Christian and non-Christian, have said over the years—that what the Lord asks of his people is far too much. In actuality, what God asks of us is quite simple. Micah (above) sums it up rather well: God asks his people to be kind, to be humble, and to do the right things. The difficulty, therefore, is not so much in understanding what God wants from us as it is in living out what God desires us to be.
Think for a moment about the impact we could have if each and every one of us decided to put the words of Micah into practice. What would happen if we all determined to be kind to other people, even when other people choose to not be kind to us? What sort of result would we see if we chose a humble path instead of seeking to put ourselves first, or to put all our energies into elevating ourselves? And what if we chose to actively pursue what is just and right—according to God’s standards—in every situation in which we find ourselves?
To understand that this is the way in which we should live is one thing. To actually live in such a way is something else entirely. Yet this is the call that we have received, and this is the manner in which we are compelled to live. God has given us his Son as an example and his Spirit as a means of empowerment so that we can be what God wants us to be.
–Ricky