KISS

The idea behind the acronym was to remind business leaders, engineers and others to avoid, whenever and wherever possible, creating any unnecessary complexity in design, planning, or development. It didn’t take long for KISS to become the acronym of choice. It’s still around today, although I would modify it for our purposes in saying, “Keep It Simple Saints!”

By simple, I mean easy to understand, in word and deed. Faith in God is not defined by a bunch of rules and regulations, high holy days, special forms of dress, or abstaining from certain foods, etc. The prophet Micah introduced simple to the nation of Israel when he summed up God’s key expectations for them (and us) in Micah 6:8.

Just three things. A challenge, yes, but simple to remember and a goal within the reach of all of us. God simply requires us to:

Act justly . . . (help bring about proper justice in the world). In the Biblical sense, justice means righteousness or moral rightness. Do what is right.

Love mercy . . . Mercy means showing compassion toward someone who may not deserve it, like God has done for us. Jesus said to his followers: “But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matthew 9:13).

Walk humbly with God . . . Humility is the antithesis of pride. To be humble means not to be proud, or arrogant. It speaks of modesty, the lowering of oneself. “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 14:11). Pride, the original sin, just doesn’t have any place in God’s kingdom. What do we have to be proud about anyway since Jesus has done everything for us?

So let’s “Keep It Simple Saints.” Justice – Mercy – Humility. That’s easy to remember isn’t it? Now all we have left is to do it and guess who will be there to help us? Maranatha!