“DOING JUSTLY, LOVING MERCY AND WALKING HUMBLY BEFORE ALMIGHTY GOD” – MEDITATIONS UPON MICAH 6:8 – PART FIVE – THE CONCLUSION


Micah 6:8 provides three essentials aspects of a qualitative, genuine and enduring spirituality. First, the prophet strongly encourages his listeners to deal justly in all of their affairs. Second, he exhorts them to love mercy as they justly handle the challenges and relationships in their lives. Third, he reminds them of the necessity of humility in relating to Almighty God, and in turn, connecting with people.

Humility in one’s relationship with God simply means seeking the truth in all matters. In agreement with Professor Paul Rausch, we should pursue the truth all of the time. Genuine spirituality demands that one is brutally honest with God and with one’s self. Accordingly, one must strive for the ability, willingness and character to be honest with everyone else. A fierce adherence to the truth is a prerequisite to grace, mercy, and redemption. St. Thomas Aquinas posited plainly that humility is the truth. Our brothers and sisters who are in recovery from myriad psycho-emotional and psycho-spiritual challenges insist that an unvarnished admission of the truth about one’s addictions and actions is the primary step toward healing. Recognizing the reality of this irreversible problem on a daily basis is necessary to maintain freedom, sanity and sobriety.

Walking humbly before Almighty God necessitates daily self-evaluation which in turn leads to spiritual transformation. The practice of spiritual disciplines (self observation, prayer, affirmation, meditation, Bible study, imaging and daily devotions and quiet time) yields integrity, the spiritual state of living in a manner in which one’s behavior adheres with one’s professed principles of belief, morals and ethics. Humility requires us to examine consistently and thoroughly whether we are progressing toward integrity.

God is not a respecter of persons. Our spiritual forebears crystallized this maxim in a song. “It is no secret what God can do. What He has done for others, He will do for you.” Walking humbly before God demands that we consider that God’s heart is big enough

to love everyone. He does not love any of us at the expense of others. Like a loving earthly father who appreciates, values and nourishes the uniqueness of each of his children regardless of how many he may have, our Heavenly Father more significantly loves each of us with an unfailing love. None

of us can falsely claim that God straightforwardly affirms us and entirely opposes persons with whom we disagree.

The multifaceted dilemmas within this Church in the last three months have taught me the necessity of striving for humility in all matters. More specifically, I hope that I shall forever be cautious in attaching God’s name and sanction to my words, desires, and actions. As the direct target and recipient of rumors, machinations and mendacious deeds of people who insist that they are accomplishing the will of Almighty God, I earnestly ask my Heavenly Father to guide me toward a genuine spirituality which encompasses true humility and love. I plan to be very hesitant about announcing the will of God. Genuine humility coerces me to conclude that I could be wrong. It furthermore helps me realize that God does not speak to me exclusively. It additionally reminds me that I am in fellowship with other disciples of the Lord whose relationships with Him are equally valuable, fluid, powerful and beneficial to the Church and me.

A lot of the political, military, economic, environmental, social and religious strife in the world contemporarily exists because myriad people believe that God exclusively favors them and the people whom they represent. Terrorists purport to act on God’s guidance as their wanton deeds of cruelty take the lives of undeserving women and children. Various terrorist cells proudly speak of their religious devotion to the god of their faith. Heads of various governments utilize the bureaucratic structures of their militaries, constitutions and national legislative assemblies to order the military
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