General News
8 February, 2026
In Good Faith: What does the Lord require?
This isn’t as difficult a question to answer as one might think, because God’s will can be distilled down to only three things: To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with Him.
Of these, the most important is the last. To do God’s will in our lives starts with walking humbly with Him.
Jesus said, ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven’ (Matt. 5:3).
So, we start there – recognising our own poverty of spirit and walking humbly with God who raises us from death to life through His Son Jesus Christ.
Everything we are and everything we have are gifts of God. Who cannot walk humbly with Him in faith, after receiving such blessings from His hand?
Our acts of mercy and love flow from faith in God and are fuelled by God Himself. Of course, anyone can be loving and merciful, but ‘without faith it is impossible to please God’ (Hebrews 11:6).
Our walk as Christians always begins with the Lord because without Him no-one can do His will at all!
Faith is pre-eminent among Gods gifts, but faith must by its very nature lead to acts of mercy and kindness for others, because all our good works proceed from the good work to end all good works – the death of Christ for our salvation, for it is in God that all good finds its source.
‘Doing justice’ is simply that we care about other people. Having been saved by Christ, we see Him in others, the same Christ who lived and died for them as much as He did for us.
And so, we work for justice – for those who are oppressed, unjustly imprisoned, unfairly treated, unjustly discriminated against.
‘Loving others’ is just what St. Francis of Assisi wrote in his famous prayer:
‘‘Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me show love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.’
These three things – acting justly, loving mercy, walking with the Lord – bounce off each other.
Spending time alone with God but not with others is selfish.
Spending time loving others without God leads to resentfulness.
Spending time with God and with others without considering their needs is ignorant.
So, rejoice in good works and be fruitful in them. Be a channel of the Lord’s peace at every opportunity.
Be Christ to your neighbours, for He died for them as much as He did for you and me.
As our Saviour has blessed us in every conceivable way, let us be a blessing to others – by acting in justice, by loving mercy, and by walking humbly with the God who gave Himself for us.