Jessica Nicholas > Quotes

“God’s justice is higher than merely punishing someone who has committed an injustice—He desires to restore everything that was lost.”
― Jessica Nicholas, God Loves Justice: A User-Friendly Guide to Biblical Justice and Righteousness

“Western views of justice are primarily focused on how things should be done—laws, rules, and what should happen when laws are broken. In Hebrew thought, justice is focused on what life should be like. Justice in the Hebrew world was concerned not just with laws, but with enhancing all human life, especially the social world.”
― Jessica Nicholas, God Loves Justice: A User-Friendly Guide to Biblical Justice and Righteousness

“The welfare of you, your community, and the world are central to living righteousness. The Creator of the universe knows what we need to do to stay healthy, balanced, and free within the design of His creation. This is His how-to guide for living our healthiest, most relationally rich and happy life. Staying inside His boundary lines is ultimately for our own benefit. When we go outside them, we are hurting ourselves and others.”
― Jessica Nicholas, God Loves Justice: A User-Friendly Guide to Biblical Justice and Righteousness

“God’s personal, passionate concern for justice and righteousness was the starting place for His people to build them into every part of their culture. The place we should all live from is “justice and righteousness.” Everything we do, from the way we raise our families to the way we run our businesses to our own relationships with the vulnerable, should reflect “justice and righteousness.”
― Jessica Nicholas, God Loves Justice: A User-Friendly Guide to Biblical Justice and Righteousness

“Instead of using His righteousness as an excuse to distance Himself from people, God’s righteousness means that He comes so close that He can save His people.”
― Jessica Nicholas, God Loves Justice: A User-Friendly Guide to Biblical Justice and Righteousness

“Doing justice” meant not only “not doing wrong,” but also actively doing right and restoring what is broken.”
― Jessica Nicholas, God Loves Justice: A User-Friendly Guide to Biblical Justice and Righteousness

“God’s justice is satisfied when there is restoration.”
― Jessica Nicholas, God Loves Justice: A User-Friendly Guide to Biblical Justice and Righteousness

“Doing “justice and righteousness” means loving the things that lead to life and actively righting the wrongs that keep people from experiencing life as God created it to be.”
― Jessica Nicholas, God Loves Justice: A User-Friendly Guide to Biblical Justice and Righteousness

“I thought that righteous people were the types that liked rules for the sake of rules. But really, righteous people love things like people, relationship, happiness, connection, holistic prosperity, and community.”
― Jessica Nicholas, God Loves Justice: A User-Friendly Guide to Biblical Justice and Righteousness

“From the beginning, God’s justice has been transformational -- restoring the world back to right again and covenantal -- restoring our relationships with Him and others.”
― Jessica Nicholas, God Loves Justice: A User-Friendly Guide to Biblical Justice and Righteousness

“God intended the entire culture of Israel to learn and teach how to do justice in a way that shaped their hearts as well as their behavior.”
― Jessica Nicholas, God Loves Justice: A User-Friendly Guide to Biblical Justice and Righteousness

“The list of what righteousness does is a list of things that most people would want: it delivers from death (see Proverbs 11:4); gives life (see Proverbs 12:28); exalts a nation (see Proverbs 14:34); establishes the king’s throne (see Proverbs 16:12); and brings blessings (see Psalm 106:3), rewards (see Proverbs 11:18), and peace (see Isaiah 32:17).”
― Jessica Nicholas, God Loves Justice: A User-Friendly Guide to Biblical Justice and Righteousness

“We need the Bible to find a unifying, God-centered, and gospel-centered expression of justice and righteousness that Christians can live out.”
― Jessica Nicholas, God Loves Justice: A User-Friendly Guide to Biblical Justice and Righteousness

“Delight is God’s why behind the justice, righteousness, and steadfast love He practices. It’s not out of frustration or obligation, but delight.”
― Jessica Nicholas

“As I started to learn more about biblical justice and righteousness, my picture changed from an angry, faraway, law-obsessed king to a loving Creator who would go to any length to restore relationship with His sons and daughters and to make the world right again.”
― Jessica Nicholas, God Loves Justice: A User-Friendly Guide to Biblical Justice and Righteousness

“It might seem that righteousness means you have to live up to God’s standards, like when you are in school and have to do everything right in order to get a good grade. But a better way to think of righteousness is living inside God’s intended order.”
― Jessica Nicholas, God Loves Justice: A User-Friendly Guide to Biblical Justice and Righteousness

“People took ownership of the shalom and wholeness of their community; and, if something was wrong, they worked to right it, even if it wasn’t their fault.”
― Jessica Nicholas, God Loves Justice: A User-Friendly Guide to Biblical Justice and Righteousness

“Justice and righteousness” was never meant to be the work of only one person, or one part of society. It should be the foundation of how everyone stewards their lives, as well as an integral, normal part of all of society. Every aspect of this world needs God’s “justice and righteousness.”
― Jessica Nicholas, God Loves Justice: A User-Friendly Guide to Biblical Justice and Righteousness

“Think of righteousness as living inside of, instead of up to, God’s standard for the right life. The welfare of you, your community, and your relationship with God are central to living righteousness.”
― Jessica Nicholas, God Loves Justice: A User-Friendly Guide to Biblical Justice and Righteousness

“These righteous people were not boring—they were exciting, dynamic leaders characterized by their wholehearted loyalty to God and willingness to take huge steps of faith that didn’t make sense to the world around them.”
― Jessica Nicholas, God Loves Justice: A User-Friendly Guide to Biblical Justice and Righteousness

“The biblical story is the full display of God’s love for justice and righteousness.”
― Jessica Nicholas, God Loves Justice: A User-Friendly Guide to Biblical Justice and Righteousness

“If we want to produce the real fruit of justice in our lives, then we need to plant God’s word about justice. God’s word will accomplish the full purpose God intends for us in the areas of justice and righteousness. The most fruitful message—one that will take root and grow in our lives—is found in the Bible.”
― Jessica Nicholas, God Loves Justice: A User-Friendly Guide to Biblical Justice and Righteousness

“Doing “justice and righteousness” means honoring and expressing God’s intended order and His ways for life. That means doing things that lead to wholeness, freedom, and prosperity for people and His physical world.”
― Jessica Nicholas, God Loves Justice: A User-Friendly Guide to Biblical Justice and Righteousness

“For many of us, justice is something that is static, idealistic, and codified. In contrast, mishpat is dynamic, realistic, and creative.”
― Jessica Nicholas, God Loves Justice: A User-Friendly Guide to Biblical Justice and Righteousness

“Biblical righteousness has much more to do with social morality and justice and is foundational to relationship. It is demonstrated through positive, constructive action, not merely refraining from destructive behavior.”
― Jessica Nicholas, God Loves Justice: A User-Friendly Guide to Biblical Justice and Righteousness

“Happiness is a mark of the righteous- not frustration, boredom, or a judgmental attitude.”
― Jessica Nicholas, God Loves Justice: A User-Friendly Guide to Biblical Justice and Righteousness

“Another major difference between justice in the Bible and our modern views of justice is that in our world, justice has to be enforced by institutions like the police force, courts systems, and prisons. This gives rise to the impression that doing justice is the responsibility of only a few people. If something is broken and it’s not our fault, then we commonly assume we don’t have to do anything to fix it. In the biblical world, however, justice was done by everyone and was everyone’s responsibility. Because of that, justice was taught not merely enforced.”
― Jessica Nicholas, God Loves Justice: A User-Friendly Guide to Biblical Justice and Righteousness

“Righteous people fulfill God’s commands and work for the wholeness and justice of their community.”
― Jessica Nicholas, God Loves Justice: A User-Friendly Guide to Biblical Justice and Righteousness

“God wants us to live in the world the way He designed it to be enjoyed. His design has boundaries, yes, but living within these boundaries does not constrict our freedom; it expands it.”
― Jessica Nicholas, God Loves Justice: A User-Friendly Guide to Biblical Justice and Righteousness