For any individual Christian, a strong sense of justice can be a complicated character trait. Of course, this attribute can be God-honoring as we seek to make sure that others are treated with honor and integrity. Our God is a God of justice, and we glorify Him when we seek to ensure that we live lives that conform to His standards. The problem is that sometimes our sense of justice is more interested in self than others. A focus on justice can easily become an obsession of getting what I am “due” in our own estimation, rather than a dedicated pursuit of what honors God.
When our interest in justice is primarily concentrated on ourselves, it often is displayed in a tendency to keep “score” in different areas of our lives. We look to see whether we are giving more in our marriage than our spouse is; we evaluate friendships based on whether “they are more trouble than they are worth” as if someone’s relational value is dependent on what they can provide to us. We may even find that we are slow to give of what God has given to us – our time, talents, and money – because we want to make sure that we only are generous to those who are generous to us in return. We count the costs of giving, and if we think we are going to get the short end of the stick, we hold back – striving to ensure that our interests are protected.
The Bible, however, is clear that the Christ follower is called to not look after their own interests (Phil. 2:4). Instead, they are to seek to glorify God and trust Him to provide what they need. This was the reasoning behind Paul’s exhortations to the Christians in Corinth not to bring lawsuits against one another in the secular courts (I Cor. 6). They were so focused on their worldly interests that they neglected to appreciate that their hostility towards one another was dishonoring to Christ. It was better to be wronged in matters of the world than to disparage their witness to unbelievers by their infighting (I Cor. 6:7). Whatever material loss they suffered was not worth the spiritual loss they were incurring as they focused only on themselves.
And while we may not be in situation where we are tempted to sue others in our church, we likely have all faced circumstances where a fear of suffering loss prompts us to hold back. In those moments, we must recognize that we don’t protect our interests; God protects us. And He is able to give far more abundantly than we ask or think (Eph 3.20).
This is what King Amaziah had to learn in 2 Chronicles 25. He had given money to soldiers that God then told him not to deploy in battle. When he questioned God about what he should do about the money he had already disbursed, God reminded him that “the Lord is able to give to you much more than this” (2 Chron 25:8). He didn’t need to worry about keeping score because God was more than able to make up for any loss that he incurred. Amaziah just needed to trust in God’s plan and provision, knowing that the abundance He had far outweighed whatever interests Amaziah was trying to protect.
So it still is for every child of God today. We can trust in God’s abundance rather than in our own ability to make sure we get what we are due. We can trust in His generosity towards us and therefore cheerfully be generous to others in His stead. We can know that ultimately our good is His concern – rather than our own. And instead of concentrating our efforts on making sure we get what we are due, we can our attention on seeking the good of others that He places in our lives.
