To Love Mercy

What does the Lord require of me?

To do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with my God.
(Micah 6)

The book I'm working on now has a theme I'm wrestling with and I hope that when I finish the book, I will have a deeper understanding of it myself. The prevailing question the characters will face: Is showing mercy better than exacting justice? Should the commitment to justice always take a backseat to showing mercy to the offender?

Obviously for a society, mercy can't rule or there would be anarchy. In our personal lives, there is a time for mercy and a time to require justice. Each situation must be decided on its own merit and I hope that my readers come to a deeper understanding of what God wants by living this situation with my characters.

I find myself falling asleep arguing the merits of both sides and pondering it during the day. The verse above is the kingpin of the message and I haven't mined the depths of it yet, being only a hundred or so pages into the book--with many rewrites still to come.

So how have you done in whittling your life down to these three things? Do you always do justly? Do you long to show mercy to those who offend you? And do you walk daily in humble fellowship with your God?

Life looks pretty simple when we boil it down to the bones, doesn't it?
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