Posts Tagged: what is righteousness?

“God’s Love and Chasing Righteousness”

On August 26, 2021 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

“The way of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD,

but he loves him who pursues righteousness.” (Proverbs 15:9, English Standard Version)

Apparently, God doesn’t just love those who are righteous. God loves those who merely chase righteousness.

Okay. But what is righteousness, anyway?

First, let me clear away some mental debris. Righteousness isn’t being right in an argument or proving that you are right and someone else is wrong (which is, in some ways, even more fun than being right yourself). Righteousness is not only about doing the next right thing. Righteousness includes doing the next right thing, but it is not simply that.

Righteousness, in both the Old and New Testaments, is about being in a right relationship with God and with other people. It certainly includes what we do, but also embraces our attitude, feelings, thoughts, and words.

And, of course, none of us gets this relationship thing right all of the time. After listening to Proverbs 15:9 on my smart phone, I listened to an Andy Stanley Your Move podcast. He pointed out that we are all hot messes. Since Proverbs 15:9 and God’s love for those who pursue righteousness was still simmering in my mind, I put Andy Stanley in the mix as well. (Don’t worry! No real live Andy’s were harmed in the production of this post!) Here is what came out of the oven.

We are all a mess, but if we at least are pursuing right relationships with God, others, and ourselves, we can count on a God who loves us. You don’t have to catch righteousness; you need to pursue it.

Care to join me in the Chase today?

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