In the Law, God gives us an example that shows His concept of justice. If a poor man borrows something from you, and gives you his warm jacket as security, then you would be fully within your right to hold onto that jacket until he returns your borrowed item. But God tells His people to return the jacket regardless that same evening as the poor man would otherwise suffer in the cold.

If you do this, it will be reckoned to you as righteousness by God Himself (Deut 24:13). The word here for righteousness is the same hebrew word as for justice. In other words, God’s justice is not exclusively based on demanding one’s rights nor simply on what is right or wrong, but rather marries together God’s holy standard with a built in measure of divine mercy and compassion.

While most of us are not judges in the legal sense, we all judge situations and individuals around us. We must always remember though to temper our judgment with mercy. Not to mercilessly hold on to our own rights, but rather consider the needs and context of the other person. This is God’s standard for how we are to treat others, and this justice will be accounted to us as righteousness.