Stand Up

“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8

What good is morality without accountability? If this life is all there is, what difference does it make whether you live like Billy Graham or Adolph Hitler? Without God, criminals who are never caught get away with it. Without God, militant Islamic terrorists and evil dictators get away with it. Without God, unjust judges, crooked politicians, and religious hypocrites get away with it. But because of God we can know that one day the scales of justice will be balanced.

Jesus Christ, on the cross, tells the world forever that there is a right and there is a wrong. He died for the wrong, so that we could be made right. He and he alone decides which is which. As Christ followers, we do not set the standard of right and wrong, we simply lovingly and humbly uphold it. We are not the judges, but rather the defenders of justice. Our stand for truth must never be arrogant or condemning; but it must be firm. It must be unwavering. And we must always remember that standing for Christ and His truth is the most loving thing we can do for a lost and dying world.

My youngest son is an airplane pilot. All pilots are taught one basic lesson at the beginning of their training. In an air traffic control zone, you do not do what seems right in your eyes; you do what the control tower tells you to do. There is a simple reason for that. That controller knows things the pilot doesn’t know. The controller has the right information and the right perspective to guide that pilot to do the right thing.

Ethically, morally, and spiritually everything seems to be changing in our world. There is a lot of confusion out there. You can fly by the seat of your pants, live by your own rules, and do what is right in your own eyes, but it will end up in disaster. We have a controller whose name is Jesus. We have our manual, which is the Word of God. With His power, and by His guidance, we can not only know what is right…we can do it.

Dear Father, as your child and your follower, I want to stand boldly for what I believe in, even in the face of opposition. I pray that you would give me courage and boldness to stand strong in my faith so that I represent you well to others. In Jesus' name, amen.