Walk humbly
What the LORD requires
Israel was offering God elaborate religion while neglecting the heart of it. Through Micah, God cuts through the ceremony to the essence: he has shown you what is good — to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
Three things, and humility is the posture beneath the other two. You cannot do justice rightly, or love mercy genuinely, while walking proudly. The whole of what God requires from those who would lead his people rests on a humble walk with him.
“What does the LORD require of you, but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?”
— The prophet Micah — Micah 6:8 (WEB)
Humility is the posture beneath all that God requires. You cannot do justice or love mercy rightly while walking proudly.
“Put on therefore, as God's chosen ones... humility, gentleness, and patience.”
Micah locates humility beneath justice and mercy as the posture that makes them real. A leader formed here walks humbly with God as the foundation of doing right and loving mercy. He knows pride corrupts even his good works. The inner work is a humble walk that grounds everything else.
Pursue justice and mercy from a posture of humility, not pride. Examine whether your pursuit of good things is being undermined by an arrogant walk. Cultivate humility as the ground of your team's justice and compassion. Make walking humbly with God the foundation under your leadership, not an afterthought.
Leaders work hard at justice and mercy while walking in a pride that quietly corrupts both, never connecting the two. The blind spot is treating humility as optional rather than as the posture that makes the rest genuine.
Ask whether your pursuit of justice and mercy is being walked out humbly. This week, name one place pride is corrupting your good work, and deliberately walk humbly there.
Leaders can be scrupulous about justice and even generous with mercy while quietly walking in pride — and the pride undermines both. The humble walk with God is not one requirement among several; it is the posture that makes the others real.
You may be working hard at justice and mercy, but are you walking humbly with your God — and would the people closest to you say so?