Seek Justice

• Describe a time when you saw someone being treated unfairly. How did this make you feel?

• What do you think of when you hear the word justice?

“Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.”
Isaiah 1:17

God tells us in this verse to seek justice. Justice means fairness. We seek justice when we both believe in what is right and work to make sure people are treated fairly. God wants us all to shine and to glorify him as his creations. But when people are oppressed, or held back, by unfair treatment, they are unable to shine the way they are designed to.

Think of Martin Luther King Jr., who devoted his life to the Civil Rights Movement. He dedicated his hard work to make sure that people of all races were treated fairly. Now, you might not give a speech in front of thousands of people or lead a march tomorrow, but you can work to treat people fairly and to be kind and helpful to people who have been treated unfairly.

In this verse, God mentions children without fathers and women without husbands because those were examples of people who were treated unfairly in Isaiah’s time. There are people in our time too who are treated unfairly, and God wants us to care about them.

PRAYER
Dear God, show us how to help people who are being treated unfairly. Help us to help others shine the way you designed them to. Give us the courage to seek justice. Amen.