10. What is Justice to You?

I understand certain topics are difficult to discuss because of differing beliefs, opinions, perceptions, and ideologies, but maybe, just maybe, we can help each other see through the muck and negativity to a brighter, happier, more positive, and understanding future. Not one of us will be perfect, and that is why we should all be like a pencil with an eraser to correct mistakes and a lead point to help explain our story, our reason, our belief, and our perception and help lead others to a differing view and, hopefully, growth in understanding. But let’s not be so quick to both erase our own mistakes and another’s value, or else we risk being like a pencil with two erasers: pointless.

With something this long, it is always good to have a quick recap of what was previously discussed.

We talked about this concept of justice, how certain organizations and people might misuse and abuse it for personal gain, and we identified a universal truth—that everyone believes in and wants justice in this life. Unfortunately, we also discussed a very important thing, resulting in the misunderstanding and confusion amongst most people.

We talked about the two major categories that people tend to put this word, justice, into. Humans love to categorize and label. So we discussed the two categories: Biblical Justice and Social Justice.

We briefly talked about Lady Justice and how our government here in the U.S.A. was set up to function with her balances. And we discussed a recent example and an old one of Lady Justice in action. And we asked the question: Is Lady Justice blind, or is it us who wear the blindfold?

As we mentioned before, justice is universally accepted as people being treated with respect, with dignity, and, as Wikipedia states it, “correct application of law as opposed to arbitrariness” and “the principle that people receive that which they deserve.”

I think we can all agree that people should be treated with respect and dignity; I also think that we can all agree that this respect can be lost based on their character and gained again based on their repentance from what caused them to lose it in the first place. Respect, character, and repentance are all things that could very well be different based on each person’s foundation.

If it is about the correct application of law, then we should all be thankful and grateful that injustice is performed every single day in and for our lives. How often do we speed, run stop signs, run red lights, tell “white lies” or exaggerations, and violate little rules and laws that we think don’t matter or are arbitrary? Imagine if justice was enacted for each and every little violation of rules and laws that we performed.

If it is about people receiving that which they deserve, then, once again, we should all be thankful and grateful that injustice is performed in our very lives. God forgave our sins through the sacrifice of His son on the cross. Imagine if justice was served on us and we truly got what each of us deserves for our sins. How about the little white lie you told to spare a loved one’s feelings? The broken relationships, lost jobs, lost wages, and losing your temper, violating someone’s dignity for your own selfish reasons, disrespecting people you might not even know, slander, and defamation through unchecked feelings and gossip? The list could go on and on.

I know most people are thinking, “These have nothing to do with what I’m thinking,” or “These are false comparisons compared to the great injustice I perceive.”

They are small and appear arbitrary to some, but they are just as important.

As Luke 16:10 says, “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.”

Like a seed planted.

Individually we must answer: What is justice to you?

Now, according to Merriam-Webster, justice is “the administration of law” [interesting]; it is “the maintenance or administration of what is just, especially by the impartial adjustment of conflicting claims…” [maybe objectivity]; it is “the quality of being just, impartial, or fair” [maybe like listening to differing perspectives, looking at facts, understanding context, searching for truth]; and it is listed as the “conformity to truth, fact, or reason.”

Justice is about what is right according to law and being impartial to both sides and being patient for the facts in any given situation to reveal the truth.

Justice is about being just, and just is “...being in conformity with what is morally upright or good” and “having a basis in or conforming to fact or reason.”

Justice is about reason, and reason is the ability to comprehend, infer, and think in orderly and rational ways.

What is justice…to you?