When Justice Feels Personal: Choosing Integrity Over Bitterness

I am well aware that I have a “JUSTICE!”-driven mindset. I feel things deeply—especially when it comes to right and wrong. My natural instinct is to make sure someone “pays” for their actions when I witness or experience injustice. But here's what God continues to teach me: justice isn’t mine to give.

When those thoughts creep in, I have to remind myself that Jesus already paid for all of my actions—and His justice is radical. It doesn’t look like punishment. It looks like grace. It looks like mercy. It looks like a cross.

So when I’m faced with injustice, the question becomes: how am I going to respond?

Proverbs 10:9 is a verse that anchors me. It’s written on my prayer board and etched in my heart:
“He who walks in integrity walks securely, but he who perverts his ways will be found out.”

I can’t control the injustices done to me or to those I love. But I can control how I live. I can choose not to treat others unjustly, and I can choose how I react when injustice comes knocking at my door.

If I say I’m walking in integrity, then vengeance, bitterness, and resentment simply can’t go with me. They weigh too much, and they cloud the voice of God in my heart.

My parents divorced when I was 18. As the oldest child, I was often the “middle man” between my mom and dad. That role made an already strained relationship with my father even worse. I was young, hurting, and confused. And for a long time, I lived with anger and resentment.

But then I met Jesus.

And He changed everything. He didn’t just clean up the outside of my life—He healed the deep places in my heart. The places that were hardened by disappointment, brokenness, and unmet expectations. He restored me from the inside out.

Now, instead of being consumed by a need for justice, I’m committed to walking in integrity. That doesn’t mean I don’t feel the sting of injustice. It means I surrender the outcome to the One who sees it all and trust that His justice is better than mine.

If you’ve ever wrestled with bitterness or struggled to forgive—especially when it feels like someone “got away” with hurting you—I want to encourage you today: lay it down. Jesus sees it. He holds it. And He will deal with it.

But your job?
It’s to walk in integrity.
To walk securely.
And to walk free.