He has shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the LORD require of you
But to do justly,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God?
Micha 6:8 (NKJV)
And what does the LORD require of you
But to do justly,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God?
Micha 6:8 (NKJV)
I had the pleasure of attending the Nevada Judicial Leadership Summit last week in beautiful Incline Village, North Lake Tahoe, Nevada. Nevada Supreme Court Chief Justice Mark Gibbons opened the session on day two by reviewing the above verse. I thought it was particularly moving and powerful to have the chief justice of our supreme court quote this verse.
I studied this verse in depth when I was in law school. It is the moto for the Christian Legal Society, for which I was a member and officer. Throughout law school, I meditated on its command to do justice and pursue mercy. As an idealistic college student, it was a moving verse that drove my pro bono work and my desire to use my law degree to help people out of their worst problems.
Fundamentally, lawyers are problem solvers. We are meant to help people resolve some of the worst conflicts in their lives by the orderly and fair administration of the law. We are meant to put bad things right with the help of the laws.
Sadly, too many of us in the legal field have forgotten that the point of our work is to do justice. Instead, we resign ourselves to administering the law -- to working in in a judicial system, not a justice system. How sad that we have given up on doing justice, as compared to administration of law. This verse should remind us that we should always strive to do what is right, just, and appropriately merciful, all while keeping in mind that we aren't God and shouldn't play fast and loose with other people's lives.
This verse has a unique application to the legal field, but what about to you? In your daily life, have you forgotten to do justice or to love mercy in your "day" job -- whether that is as a stay at home mom, a CPA, a church staff member, a secretary, etc?
I studied this verse in depth when I was in law school. It is the moto for the Christian Legal Society, for which I was a member and officer. Throughout law school, I meditated on its command to do justice and pursue mercy. As an idealistic college student, it was a moving verse that drove my pro bono work and my desire to use my law degree to help people out of their worst problems.
Fundamentally, lawyers are problem solvers. We are meant to help people resolve some of the worst conflicts in their lives by the orderly and fair administration of the law. We are meant to put bad things right with the help of the laws.
Sadly, too many of us in the legal field have forgotten that the point of our work is to do justice. Instead, we resign ourselves to administering the law -- to working in in a judicial system, not a justice system. How sad that we have given up on doing justice, as compared to administration of law. This verse should remind us that we should always strive to do what is right, just, and appropriately merciful, all while keeping in mind that we aren't God and shouldn't play fast and loose with other people's lives.
This verse has a unique application to the legal field, but what about to you? In your daily life, have you forgotten to do justice or to love mercy in your "day" job -- whether that is as a stay at home mom, a CPA, a church staff member, a secretary, etc?
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