Prerequisite To Be A Righteous Man!

"He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you-But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God." Micah 6:8

This verse shows us the attitude we must have in true worship. The word worship means devotion to deity, thus in order to show devotion to God we must obtain certain godly virtues. In Micah 6:8 the Bible says "what does the Lord require of you" the idea is that the Lord is seeking such people with characteristics of true worship, for "God is Spirit, a those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." (John 4:24) then the Bible goes on to mention the actual requirements of true worship, (1) to do justly, (2) to love mercy, (3) to walk humbly with your God. These three requirements summarize biblical piety in true worship. The first is "Justly" to live with a moral standard, our standard of living is the Bible, "This Book of Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way properous, and then you will have good succes." (Joshua 1:8) so to live justly we must be submissive to the Holy Spirit and God's word. Then it says "to love mercy" notice it doesn't say "to show mercy" there's a big different when we our commanded to show mercy and when we love to show mercy. Mercy is parallel virtue to forgiveness; to show forgiveness is to show mercy. Therefore the things that are said about forgiveness are also true corcerning mercy. For we should love mercy, just as our Father in heaven loves mercy, for if we do not show mercy than no mercy will be shown to us come judgement day. (James 2:13) You see in Exodus 34:6-7 God explains His own character "the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, 'The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin." What a beautiful God we serve, whom upholds those characteristics, notice the idea of mercy and forgiveness, it is mentioned four times in Exodus 34:6-7 but one phrase of mercy stands out "keeping mercy for thousands" the point of this phrase is that God is more willing to show His mercy than His wrath. So then if the God of the universe has mercy on people and forgives them of all iniquity and transgression and sin, who are we to not show mercy and forgiveness? Then lastly in Micah 6:8 the Bible declares "to walk humbly with your God" now this phrase not only shows us that we need God to give us strength, courage, and the ability to exercise virtues of a righteous life. But it shows us that God does not force anything upon us it says to "walk" when we walk we are in a steady and easy action. Walking is second nature for us, in the same way God wants our spiritual walk to be so natural that we our so meek to His Spirit. He earnestly seeks those who desire an inimate relationship with Him, for when we draw near to God, He will draw near to us. (James 4:8) God seeks those who want to be filled with His righteousness, He looks for those who are going to acknowledge Him in the good and the bad. "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the Lord upholds him with His hand." (Psalm 37:23-24)