There are many things I will learn through my stint in ns, many circumstances that will come my way and force me to ask questions. The question of justice and mercy is one of them.
Just last week, I was confronted with this, and to be honest until now I still wonder if I have made the right decision. A friend told me sometimes when we are faced with difficult decisions such as this, we just have to make the best choice as we can possibly can, not worry too much about it and learn to live with it. It's a dilemma, and has forced me to think alot more about justice and mercy.
God is a God of both justice and mercy, and interestingly in the Bible both are often even talked about side by side. Yet to most of us, justice and mercy seem like they are at the opposing ends of the spectrum. The more mercy you give, the less justice you execute. The more firm your hand of justice, the more merciless you are being. So really, how do we balance justice and mercy?
It is tough. There is no one size fits all answer and really, it is going to have to depend on each individual circumstance. Through this, perhaps we must see things from two other very important virtues, faithfulness and love. Faithfulness is walking with God, knowing God, knowing His heart, understanding the intricacies in how He sees mercy and justice such that they may be applied in the right measure in differing circumstances.
Love in that it is the measurement by which our acts of justice and mercy are to be measured by. Ultimately we must recognise that whatever choice we make, it must be done out of love, be it tender love or tough love, so that those involved including the offender may best gain from it all.
Justice and mercy will always be difficult to balance, but as a Christian we must be able to navigate this fine line. May God grant us the wisdom whenever we face such situations to be able to properly resolve it in a way that is pleasing to Him.
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