Judgment, Justice, and LOVE


Justice has Been Served

A verdict has been delivered in one of the most watched trails of this decade. I’ve waited along with the rest of our country as evidence was piled on evidence, leaving little doubt that an unarmed man was willfully and painfully killed by another man, an authority figure, who knew better.

Here’s what I know. Violence is part of our world, and it shouldn’t be. Racism is systemic and ugly and it shouldn’t exist. In any form. What should exist is an overpowering love for our fellow humans. That is what Jesus called us to do with our lives. We are to love, serve, and share His love with our fellow humans.

 

A Duty and a Gift

When I was asked to serve as the hostess for George Floyd, I was honored. I was honored to be given the opportunity to help bring a tiny bit of peace to his loved ones and all of those suffering in our country.

Looking back at that moment now, I think the opportunity to serve in the midst of darkness and sorrow was a gift. It opened my eyes, placed me in the middle of the pain, and it’s allowed me to see the trails so many of our brothers and sisters face every day.

Up until the moment that jury came back with a verdict, much of the turmoil surrounding Mr. Floyd’s death was political. Pundits talked on the news and talk shows about the “realities” of racism and the need to defund, give more money to, train better, or empower our police forces. So many opinions, but none talked about the need to love our fellow citizens.

 

Judgment

The men and women who served on that jury had to set aside the opinions and give a decision based on evidence. That’s what each of us will face at the end of our lives. We will stand before our Lord and He will open the Book of Judgment and give an accounting of the evidence of how we’ve lived our lives.

He won’t judge us on popular opinions, like the pundits. He won’t judge us on what we intended to do, like we might hope. He’s not going to judge us by who we knew. He is going to judge us on the evidence.

 

Did we follow His commandments?

Did we LOVE others?

Did we SERVE others?

Were we leaders when we were called to lead?

Did we follow faithfully?

Did we LOVE others?

Where our hearts pure?

Did our thoughts stay focused on Him?

Did we stand up for those who couldn’t stand up for themselves?

Did we LOVE others?

 

Those men and women made a decision based on evidence, and that decision wasn’t made in malice. They made a decision for what is right. They made a decision against violence and hate and murder.

They didn’t malign the police force. They supported positive policing by agreeing with the evidence given by the police. They stood up and said murder is wrong. Abusing authority is wrong. Killing a man because you don’t like him, or because he is the “wrong” color is not going to be permitted!

They gathered together and gave the judgment they felt was right based on the evidence. And it was a judgement that brought tears of relief to eyes around the country. Justice has been served.

 

Moving Forward

Now we need to move forward. We need to LOVE one another. We need to serve one another. And we need to change our culture to one that encourages love instead of hate, peace instead of violence, and harmony instead of discord.

That will look different for each of us. As we move toward true equality and justice in our country, LOVE is what we need. We need to LOVE our brothers and sisters, our fellow humans, and all of God’s creation.

 

 

If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. (1 John 4:20)