Just is a six-part devotional that explores God’s heart for justice by looking at the parables and miracles of Jesus and inviting you to deepen your understanding of mercy.
Topic: Justice and Mercy
Length of Study: 6 sections
Focal Scripture: Multiple passages
“We may not be able to perform miraculous healing like Jesus or pronounce someone forgiven of their sin–that is not our job–but we can be invested in the healing and wholeness of suffering people as a way of loving our neighbor and following the example of Jesus.”
—Brooke Jackson, author
This devotional is divided into six sections, each of which has several “days” of readings. As such, there is no pressure to complete it within a certain number of days or weeks. Feel free to move through the devotional at your own pace, especially if some days’ readings are more dense than others and you would like more time to think through the passages and questions.
God of justice,
Open my eyes to see the world and the people in it like you do. Help me to recognize when injustice is present and not to turn away from it. Pierce my heart for the things that grieve yours and guide my hands and feet to the work that is mine to do. Help me to be a person who seeks the wholeness of others and who holds my own desires for justice with an open hand. Please show me what it means to follow you in living mercifully toward those around me.
In Jesus’s name, amen.
Brooke Jackson is a career youth defender who has worked with children and teens in the youth and adult legal systems for two decades. She came to her work by being drawn into God's heart for the vulnerable and those in need. In that time, she has also volunteered as a ministry and community leader in spaces centered around justice. Brooke lives in central Ohio with her husband Matt and their three children.
Growing up, I associated God’s justice with God’s wrath. Full stop. Even though my family and I faithfully attended church, volunteered in ministries, and I attended Christian schools where I earned great grades, I was terrified of God. No matter how many times I heard that God is love, it was hard to distance that picture from a crime-and-punishment mindset. The more I turned to Scripture to answer the questions I had about the nature of God and his justice, the more I discovered how frequently God’s justice involved caring for the fatherless, the widow, and the orphan. I found that God’s Word was full of instruction for his people to do right, seek justice, and defend the oppressed. And because Jesus was the exact representation of God the Father, he faithfully embodied God’s character throughout his life and ministry. My hope is that by examining the stories and actions of Jesus you will see God’s heart for those on the margins, the thread of God’s just nature throughout time, and his hope to use people who reflect his justice toward others.
