I posted some thoughts on the difference between embodying justice and performing just acts over at Slant33.com. Below are my thoughts but be sure to check out Slant33.com for two other perspectives on the same topic!
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To embody something is to personify it or to be an ideal example. Justice is making wrongs right. Hence, to embody justice is to be a living and active illustration of what it means to make right the wrongs of this world. This embodied, consistent justice comes out of who a person is and has become—out of their way or rule of life.
To simply perform a just act is not to consistently embody but rather to occasionally take action. Taking occasional action on behalf of others is morally and spiritually fitting. Dependably embodying justice, though, is more. It is morally and spiritually forming in both self and others.
Dependable embodiment stems from a life of attentiveness, discipline, and selfless practice. And though it may be created through the above description, it is formerly birthed out of a holy love that is wrought by God and God’s grace, showered upon humanity—which, consequently, is passed on through the varied expressions of the one love that began it all. These expressions are performed in the hopes of righting what has been wronged because ultimately, God is a merciful God, and because of that, humanity still has the capability of being a compassionate people.
So the difference between embodying justice and performing a just act is quite simple. Where the question begs, Should I act justly?, there is most often standing a person who performs justice as an occasional act. Where the question begs, What kind of a person will I become if I don’t embody justice?, it is there that the consistent person stands and the morally and spiritually forming habit of righting wrongs takes up residence.
Just acts are morally and spiritually fitting, and the embodiment of justice is morally and spiritually forming. Inside of these truths one can appraise his life and answer the question, Do I embody justice, or do I simply perform acts of justice?