Righteousness

I grew up in church, so I can remember oo-ing and ahh-ing at the “ultra-holy” prayers spoken by many of my leaders in children’s church and youth group. The more “Father-God’s” thrown in there, the more likely it was that their prayers were reaching God. The whole concept is a bit ridiculous, but I always admired someone who could pray “well.” For years, if I knew I was going to have to pray in front of people I would rehearse in my mind what I was going to say. I wanted to sound righteous, after all! The more I did this though, the less sense it made. The God I had heard about and grown to know was someone who was considered my counselor, my teacher, and my friend. So why was I talking to Him in such a way? My prayers may have been eloquent, but they weren’t always real. I often spent more time thinking about the words I was saying than I did the recipient of the prayer.

This type of attitude is more common than we’d like to admit in Christianity. Although you may not have jumped over this particular hurdle, perhaps you have acted in other ways to display your “righteousness.” Have you ever had an explosive argument in the car on the way to church, then waltzed in with a smile on your face and a Bible in hand, looking ready for a little Holy Ghost Hoedown? Or perhaps you’ve lifted your hands during worship just at the right time with the sole purpose of ensuring that nobody knows you’re really just daydreaming about what’s for lunch.

Artificial righteousness could be a little more discrete though. You may even follow everything a Christian is supposed to do. You may read your Bible, pray, and attend church with good intentions, but never put anything you learn into action. It’s far too common for Christians to sit on the outside of society and criticize, meanwhile putting no effort whatsoever in to change the flaws within themselves.

Whatever category you may fall into, I think we could all bear to be a little more real with ourselves, and a little more real with God. In Matthew 6:9:15 (The Lord’s Prayer,) we are taught four important principles. To have a good relationship with God, we need to:

1.       Honor His name (Matthew 6:9)

2.       Follow well (Matthew 6:10)

3.       Learn dependence (Matthew 6:11)

4.       Remember forgiveness (Matthew 6:12-15)

Incorporating these principles in our day-to-day life is vital to our spiritual health. In order to grow and get to know God better, we really have to put in the work. That means praying and spending time in the Word when nobody else is around to see it. That means abiding by His direction in circumstances where we could easily get away with doing our own thing. That means trusting God even when it doesn’t seem to make sense. That means forgiving people even when they don’t deserve it.

To be righteous is not to sound or look like you’ve got it together. To be righteous is to be real, and to be free from guilt or sin. I challenge you to examine your life this week, and see if you can find an area to work on that you may have a righteous exterior, but lack a truly righteous interior. 

Written by: Tamara Sturdivant

Edited by: De Ann Sturdivant