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The Measure of a Just People

October 4th, 2025

From the dawn of time, the story of mankind has been the story of two kinds of people — those who walk with God and those who resist Him. Yet the truth is deeper still: every soul holds the seeds of both justice and injustice. Each life becomes a journey of choosing which path to follow, and this mortal probation is the time appointed to make that choice. As the Lord declared through Moses, “I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil… therefore choose life” (Deuteronomy 30:15, 19).

The measure of a people is not found in appearances, traditions, or words, but in the condition of their heart. “Man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). It is possible for a person to profess faith, attend worship, and appear outwardly upright, while inwardly resisting God. Likewise, some who appear unrefined or unorthodox may bear the quiet fruit of what is just. This reality extends beyond individuals — it is true of families, churches, and nations.

Because of this, discernment is essential. We must learn to see as God sees, to distinguish between the fruit of justice and injustice, no matter how they are packaged. As Jesus warned, “By their fruits ye shall know them” (Matthew 7:20). Both the just and the unjust are found in every walk of life — rich and poor, educated and simple, religious and secular. What matters is not the label we wear, but the life we live.

God is no respecter of persons. Even those who do not yet know Him, if they walk in His ways—living with honesty, humility, mercy, and justice—will taste the fruit of what is right. And those who claim His name yet refuse His commandments will reap the sorrow of rebellion. As Peter declared, “In every nation he that feareth Him and worketh righteousness is accepted with Him” (Acts 10:35). God honors His laws, and those who honor His laws—whether knowingly or not—will receive the blessings tied to them. The reverse is also true.

A just people are builders and preservers of all that is good. They strengthen families, defend truth, and bless the land they live in. An unjust people tear down what others have built, twist what is true, and destroy what is holy. Between these two paths lies the destiny of every soul and every nation.

The Just

Those who are just live with faith and gratitude. They do not obey God out of fear, but because they love Him. Jesus said plainly, “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). Love is the motive power of their obedience.

They live by humility and fairness. The prophet Micah summed it up beautifully: God requires us “to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God” (Micah 6:8). The just are not proud or argumentative; they listen, they learn, and they walk softly before the Lord.

They are also industrious. Solomon taught, “In all labour there is profit, but the talk of the lips tendeth only to poverty” (Proverbs 14:23). They just don’t waste time with envy or complaints. They find joy in honest work, whether in the field, the shop, or the home. Their hands bless others as much as they bless themselves, because they believe that work is worship and diligence is a form of thanksgiving.

They are self-reliant yet generous. Paul instructed the believers in Ephesus to labor “with [their] hands the thing which is good, that [they] may have to give to him that needeth” (Ephesians 4:28). A just man or woman doesn’t hoard their blessings; they use them to strengthen the weak and uplift the poor.

Their speech is marked by honesty and courage. They refuse to flatter or deceive. Solomon tells us, “The integrity of the upright shall guide them” (Proverbs 11:3), and again, “Lying lips are abomination to the Lord, but they that deal truly are His delight” (Proverbs 12:22). When the just speak, their words carry weight because their lives match their tongues.

The just are forgiving and compassionate. They remember that God forgave them first, so they extend the same mercy to others. Paul wrote, “Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:32). Forgiveness is not weakness; it is the highest form of strength.

They live clean and modest lives, both outwardly and inwardly. Peter urged believers to focus not on outward adornment but on “the hidden man of the heart, which is in the sight of God of great price” (1 Peter 3:3–4). Their modesty springs from self-respect and reverence, not from shame. Their preparation — physical, moral, and spiritual — is an act of stewardship, not fear.

The just also remember history. Moses told Israel, “Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations” (Deuteronomy 32:7). They study the past because they know that forgetting truth is the first step toward losing it. They record, they teach, they preserve.

And above all, they fear God — not with terror, but with reverence. “The fear of the Lord,” said Solomon, “is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10). It is the awareness that every decision, every word, every secret thought stands before the eyes of a holy God. That awareness makes them brave, because their courage rests on truth. It makes them generous, because their hope is eternal.

Such people are builders and defenders — industrious, forgiving, self-reliant, and strong in spirit. Their homes are clean, their dealings honest, their communities peaceful. They are thinkers, farmers, historians, craftsmen, and parents who honor the sanctity of life. They speak plainly, live humbly, and stand upright before the Lord.

The Unjust

But there is another people — those who choose pride over humility and rebellion over obedience. Scripture calls them the wicked. They may be clever or powerful, but their hearts are far from God. The psalmist wrote, “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God” (Psalm 14:1). Isaiah lamented that such people “have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel” (Isaiah 5:24).

The unjust are proud and entitled. Solomon observed, “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18). They imagine that the world owes them a reward without labor. They despise those who work honestly and envy those who prosper by justice.

They are lazy and wasteful. Solomon warned that “the desire of the slothful killeth him; for his hands refuse to labour” (Proverbs 21:25). An unjust person will take what another has built and call it justice. They redistribute rather than create, rationalize rather than repent, and live as victims rather than servants of God.

Their words are cunning and their hearts deceitful. Jeremiah declared, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9). Such people manipulate with flattery and excuses. They twist truth until even they cannot tell it from lies. When correction comes, they harden their necks, and Solomon warns, “He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy” (Proverbs 29:1).

The unjust are violent and cruel. Isaiah said, “Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood” (Isaiah 59:7). Violence is not always with weapons; sometimes it is with words — slander, mockery, false accusation. They break what others build and feel powerful for the ruin they leave behind.

They are idolatrous and godless. Paul wrote that though they knew God, “they glorified Him not as God… but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened” (Romans 1:21). They worship the self — power, pleasure, and appearance — while rejecting the Creator who gave them breath. Their lives become marked by immodesty, arrogance, and decay.

The unjust also rewrite history. Isaiah warned of those who “call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness” (Isaiah 5:20). They tear down what was sacred, mock the memory of the just, and destroy what they do not understand. They are revisionists, conquerors, and book-burners who cannot bear to see truth preserved.

And though they appear strong, inwardly they are fearful and unstable. Solomon tells us, “The wicked flee when no man pursueth, but the righteous are bold as a lion” (Proverbs 28:1). Their strength is a mask; their anger is their armor. They are cowards hiding behind noise and fury, unwilling to face the still voice of conscience.

Such people are proud, dishonest, and cruel. They are ruled by passion, not principle; by emotion, not faith. They destroy what they inherit, twist what they hear, and blame others for their sins. They are the disordered heart of every fallen nation and the restless conscience of every unrepentant soul.

The True Measure

In the end, the difference between the just and the unjust is not wealth, color, background, or belief. It is humility versus pride, obedience versus rebellion, light versus darkness. Justice is not reserved for those who carry a religious title or wear a name badge of faith. Peter learned this when God revealed a greater truth: “God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation he that feareth Him and worketh righteousness is accepted with Him” (Acts 10:34–35).

God blesses those who honor His laws. Even those who do not yet profess faith in Him—if they live with honesty, mercy, gratitude, and humility—will reap the fruit of justice. And those who loudly proclaim His name but walk in pride, deceit, cruelty, or sloth will receive the natural consequences of injustice. It is not the words we speak, but the life we live, that determines our standing before God.

When a people collectively turn toward God, He blesses them. When they turn away, He withdraws His hand. The pattern never changes. “Righteousness exalteth a nation,” wrote Solomon, “but sin is a reproach to any people” (Proverbs 14:34).

Every generation, like ancient Israel, stands before the same choice: life or death, blessing or curse. The choice is not made once—it is made daily, in every word, every action, every decision. To choose life is to walk humbly with God, to work with honest hands, to speak truth, to forgive freely, and to fear the Lord in reverence and love.

Those who do will be, as David wrote, “like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither” (Psalm 1:3). But the wicked, he said, “are like the chaff which the wind driveth away” (Psalm 1:4).

The decision is eternal and personal: to build or to destroy, to bless or to curse, to live in the light or to hide in the dark; to take responsibility for one’s life, or to cast blame upon another. Every soul contains both the potential for justice and for injustice—and this life is the time to choose which path we will follow.

Every person, every family, every church, and every nation will rise or fall by that choice.

Identifying Traits

Attributes of the Just

Attributes of the Unjust