Most people consider themselves good. The question becomes then, “By what standard do I consider myself good or righteous?” Perhaps before I can even settle on a standard, I have to ask myself “What is righteousness?”
Setting the Standard of Righteousness
The opening line of Psalm 4 (Psalm 4:1) will give you the answer. David calls on the “God of his righteousness.” What an excellent acknowledgement of the Father! Unfortunately, when we are not careful, we can place our measuring stick against nearly anything and come up with a way to call ourselves good.
By what measurement do we consider our righteousness?
We attend fund raisers, help the needy, volunteer for the PTA or any list of “good” things in the world. This is usually an effort to tip the scales in balance to the sins we have. When we do this, we are settling on the approval of people rather than God.
The truth is, anything other than God is a poor substitute for goodness. In fact, when God is not the standard, there is no righteousness at all. James 1:17 says that God is the only thing good.
Seek Righteousness Diligently
Jesus promised that those who hunger and thirst after righteousness will be filled. (Matthew 5:6) This gives us our direction. There is no purpose or meaning in our lives if we are not seeking something – as Christians, that something is righteousness. (Matthew 6:33)
- We find righteousness in the Gospel (Romans 1:16-17)
- We give ourselves to God to be used for righteousness (Romans 6:13)
- Being in his kingdom is all about righteousness (Romans 14:17)
The world is doing a good job in tricking people into believing goodness and righteousness is something far different than what God told us. Our job is to seek his kingdom and righteousness.
Daily Bible reading for August 6
Psalm 4
Judges 16
Jeremiah 32
Mark 1
August 6, 2013
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