Life is not fair and this really bothers us. Even young children, without any prior teaching or experience, recognize when something is not fair. And they are not ashamed to point it out. On February 14, 2014, CNN reported on a Yale study of babies as young as three months old. They reported that babies recognize right and wrong long before we believe they are capable. The report said: “Philosophers and psychologists have long believed that babies are born as ‘blank slates’ and that the role of parents and society is to teach babies the difference between right and wrong; the good. and the bad; bad and nice. of researchers now believe differently. They believe that babies are born with an innate sense of morality, and although parents and society can help develop a belief system in babies, they do not believe one 1.
I believe that our sense of justice comes from God, who is himself perfectly just and perfectly holy. But if God is just and holy, and if God created this world, then why is the world so out of control and why are things so unfair? It is because, although we were created in the image of God, Adam’s act of rebellion in the Garden caused all of humanity to turn away from God and return to themselves. So now we act differently than God does. Our sinful nature turns us inward to our own selfishness and our own needs despite the needs around us. We never have to fight to be bad. We just fight to be good. And when we find ourselves being good, it is usually because there is some reward. Therefore, life is often unfair to ourselves or to others.
Those who accept the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross have been reborn in the image of Christ and have been indwelt by the Spirit of God. Christians should be like Christ. But it’s not so easy. We still have that fallen nature within us, and we will continue to have it until the day we return to God in glory. And this fallen nature always wants us to turn inward and think about what is best for us, regardless of what is best for others.
So injustice continues to reign in the world due to both Christians and non-Christians. Is there anything we can do about it? Yes and no. We as Christians can deny our sinful impulses and, with the help of the Holy Spirit, work to transform ourselves into the image of Christ. That would eliminate any injustices that we may be causing. But can we regulate the behavior of other people, whether they are Christian or not? The answer is no. So all we can do is regulate our reaction to the injustice we see around us.
“Easier said than done,” I already hear people say. When something is unfair, we are like little children, we want to point it out and make sure everyone knows it. This is how the world reacts. But that is not how Christians should respond. We must be like Christ. How did you respond to the injustice around you? He kept His eyes on the Father, that’s how. And we must fix our eyes on Christ, says Hebrews 12: 2, because “for the joy that was set before Him He suffered the cross, despising shame.” Christ requires Christians to behave as He did. When we see or experience injustice, if there is nothing we can do about it, then we must give it to God and maintain the peace and joy that the Holy Spirit provides.
The truth is, we will never measure up to Christ’s perfect standard. But we must keep trying. We must change our behavior to become like Christ in all things, no matter how difficult, no matter how unfair. If we fail one or two or five hundred times, we must fix our eyes on Christ and try again, resting on His finished work on the Cross. If we can get to the place where we give all injustice to Him and no one else around us knows anything about it; that’s when we become like Christ.
So at the end of the day, we have to decide what is most important. Is it more important to be like Christ? Or are we in a place where we just have to make sure someone knows our circumstances? None of us are perfect and some days will be better than others. But again, the right thing to do when we fail is to ask for forgiveness and then “go and sin no more” (John 8:11).
One Scripture that has been very helpful on this front is 2 Cor. 4: 16-18, which says: “Therefore, we do not lose heart; before, although our outer man is deteriorating, nevertheless, our inner man is renewed from day to day. Because a slight momentary tribulation produces an eternal weight of Glory, beyond all comparison, while we do not look at the things that are seen, but those that are not seen; because the things that are seen are temporary, but those that are not seen are eternal “. In other words, if we can keep pushing, that last day will have been worth it. That is when we will hear the dear words: “Well done, good and faithful servant … Enter into the joy of your master” (Mt. 25:23).
1. Chun, Susan, “Are We Born With A Moral Core? The Baby Lab Says ‘Yes,'” CNN.com, Feb. February 14, 2014, http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/12/us/baby-lab-morals-ac360/