The Beauty of Righteousness in the Life of a Christian
8 years ago Evangelical Ministry 0
Righteousness could be defined as behaviour that is morally justifiable or right. Such behaviour is characterized by acceptable standards of morality. The following are the synonyms of ‘righteousness’: goodness, virtue, uprightness, decency, integrity, rectitude, probity, morality, honesty, innocence, blameless, saintliness, purity, piety, piousness, etc. The above synonyms of righteousness are all morally justifiable. Since the word ‘Christian’ means Christ like, then it means that one cannot be addressed as a Christian without being righteous. The Lord admonished in Matthew 5:8 ‘You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly father is perfect’. Since Jesus our master is perfect, then we His followers must strive to be perfect. It is only then that we could be qualified to be called Christians.
Living a righteous life can make one draw souls to God without knowing it. We should always bear in mind that nothing is hidden under the sun. In our work places and religious/ social gatherings, people daily watch our conducts. We should live godly lives so much so that we should convert souls through our godly behaviour. In other words we should always live the lives of evangelism.
When we were attending Block Rosary as little children, there’s this song we used to sing in igbo language: ‘Ezi omume ezi omume, ezi omume, yiri ezi omume dika uwe. Gi ezuna ori ezuna ori, gi agbana ama ugha agbana ama ugha, gi hu nwanne gi n’anya nke kachasi ibe ya, yiri ezi omume dika uwe’. This song says ‘Good behaviour, good behaviour, wear good behaviour like a robe. Thou shall not steal, do not steal, thou shall not slander, do not slander, thou shall love your neighbour as yourself which is the greatest, wear good behaviour like a robe. Then as a child, I was actually wondering how one can wear good behaviour like a robe. Now as an adult, I’ve come to realize that when Adam and Eve were in the garden, they were covered with righteousness because they were sinless. It was when they sinned against God that they realized they were naked. The meaning of this is that we are spiritually naked whenever we sin against God. In other words, righteousness makes us shun all forms of evil and constantly reminds us that we are representatives of Christ.
As Christians, righteousness draws us very close to God and so we are happy in His presence. Our food should be always to do the will of God whose image we represent. 1 Peter 1:15-16 says ‘As he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conducts, since it is written ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy’. Our lives as Christians should always bear witness to the fact that we are God’s children. There must be a striking difference between us and those of them in the world. Our conducts must be that which would always put smiles on God’s face that He will be proud to say: ‘This is my beloved son/daughter in whom I am well pleased’.
Whenever we go about our daily activities as Christians, we should always bear in mind that there is light at the end of the tunnel. If at the end of our sojourn on earth and we did not receive that crown of glory, then our race is useless. Righteousness is very important in our lives because without it, we cannot see God. In Matthew 5:20, the Lord cautioned us “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisee, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven’. May it never be our portion in Jesus name. Amen.
Living a righteous life might seem difficult in our world filled with all kinds of evil but we should endeavour to stand out. His grace is sufficient for us, so we should always beg God for that special grace and always endeavour to be in His presence because if we cut off from Him, we can do nothing.
Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people (Proverbs 14:34).
