Did you know that righteousness is a gift with benefits that are multiplied not only to us—but also—to others? This “righteousness,” I’m speaking of, is not SELF-righteousness—which is produced by our own good works—rather, it is righteousness that finds its origins in holy and pure God. Without God, we are incapable of HIS righteousness. (We can think we’re pretty good, but at the end of our life—it’s God’s standard we need to measure up to—not our own.) The Bible says:
“There is NONE righteous, no, not one; there is none who understands; there is NONE who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is NONE who does GOOD, no, not one.”
Romans 3:10-12 NKJV
But fear not, my friend—Jesus made the way for us to have HIS righteousness. That’s why we CELEBRATE Christmas. Jesus was born—to die for our sin—so we might have HIS righteousness.
“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God IN HIM.”
2 Corinthians 5:21 NKJV
You may ask – – HOW do we obtain this great gift of God’s righteousness? Well, we must APPROPRIATE this gift. If I bought you two tickets to the Super Bowl and offered them to you, but you did not trust my word enough to use them—the tickets would be wasted, right? Then, if you showed up to the game without the tickets—you would not be let in. This is much like salvation. Jesus paid the price—GOD’s PRICE to satisfy the justice required by His righteous standard—so we could be reconciled to Him. In HIS love He paid the price we could NOT pay. He bought our ticket to everlasting life. Actually He IS the ticket. When we accept him as Savior and Lord, we appropriate his gift of salvation for ourselves.
Our soul and spirit are given the glorious righteousness of Christ and—it’s forever!
This gift of salvation empowers us with God’s Spirit to carry the glorious Gospel and the saving grace of God to others! But why does it seem that even after we’re born again that so many of us struggle to do the right thing? Ah…well my friend, we still must do battle with our enemies. They want to drag us back to the slavery of sin. They want to rob us of our freedom in Christ. Paul explained this lifelong struggle in Romans 7:15-25. My friend, while we will ALWAYS be God’s child, we don’t always value the relationship with Him as much as He does with us. My son will always be my son—but when he was a teenager—well, we had our ups and downs which affected the relationship. Human relationships are full of conflict because our flesh is never any better than the day we were born again. But our relationship with God is different because HIS half of the relationship—is perfect.
We’re the one constantly hijacking our relationship with God when we choose our sin—over Him.
However, when we begin to understand and appreciate the remarkable benefits of living in conformity with God’s ways, we experience peace that passes understanding—despite our tumultuous circumstances. Well, of course we do because Jesus IS the Prince of Peace!
“For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
Isaiah 9:6
When we choose to live in the right ways of God as set forth in His Word, we choose to live in peace, love, joy, wisdom, power, rest, and satisfaction…just to name a few—even amidst the trouble of this world!
“The work of righteousness will be peace, And the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever. My people will dwell in a peaceful habitation, In secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places,”
Isaiah 32:16-18
The law of God was given to reveal our unholiness, that is, to uncover the disease of sin so we could escape its death grip and experience the joy and complete satisfaction of God’s holiness.
You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Psalms 16:11
God’s righteous ways allow us to experience more joy and pleasure than we can contain! Imagine that!!! This is why…
Living in holiness is NOT about denying ourselves pleasure—it’s about discovering our deepest delight and satisfaction in the Creator of pleasure.
The more we experience a life of righteousness, the fuller and greater our joy. The greatest commandment is to love God with all we are and all we have. The greatest joy of our life is discovered when we fall in love with God; and—when our affection for Him grows—it changes the way we think, speak and act. We begin to love like God loves. The gift of righteousness blesses us and blesses others.
When we love God, we enjoy the multifaceted blessings of righteousness and so does everyone around us.
We would love to hear your thoughts about this devotional. Did God speak to you or challenge your daily walk with him? Or is there a topic that you would like Kimberly to cover or expound on? Please share with us in the comments below.
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4 Responses
Pleasing God must be our top priority. Only what we do for him will last .
Amen sister!