Righteousness

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On Sat, 05 Sep 1998 08:50:09 -0500 Tyler Nally <tnally@iquest.net>
writes:

>Like the subject line says..... "Rrrrrrrrighteousness" ...
>How'z zat 'splained?  
>
>Also, try your very best in not defining it with the use of the 
>word "right".  That's a real no-no that I remember we weren't 
>allowed to do in grade school, so we really shouldn't do it hear.
>
>Bro Tyler

Well,  I could get out my faithful Dictionary of N.T. words and read it. 
It says: The character or quality of being just.  It was formerly spelled
"rightwiseness".

My original statement was " We need an attitude of righteousness" and so
if I was trying to explain what an attitude of righteousness is I guess
this is what I'd say:  I realize that my salvation and any good that I am
or can do comes from God.  I realize that it is His blood and His blood
alone that covers my sin and makes me who I am.  I know that I am no
better or worse than anyone whether they be doctor or bum.  I know that
if I have any power to overcome sin, it is because it is the great God of
glory who graciously grants it to me.  I know that we reap what we sow
and that he who shows mercy will also obtain mercy and that I need that
mercy from God.  I also know that any joy I have in life comes from God
Himself and His willingness to accept me.  I know that my family, my
health, my talent, and any other good and perfect gift comes from up
above.  I know that no matter how hard I try, that I will never be
sufficient in myself.  No amount of self-righteousness or trying hard on
my part will earn me heaven, but that because of my love for Him and my
knowledge that he desires me to try my best to live godly, I will do my
very best to live the way He wants me to.  It also means that I realize
that God accepts me for who I am in all my flaws and that He sees me
through the eyes of love.  He sees me as perfect because of those eyes of
love and because of the covering of His blood that is upon me.  Because I
am loved, I am also free to love.  Because I am accepted, I am also free
to accept.  But because of the hatred of sin that God feels, I also hate
sin.  Because God has spoken truth to me, I feel the need to speak the
truth to others knowing that " Ye shall know the truth and the truth
shall make you free".  Righteousness is *not* always being right, but
having the ability to admit when I am in error and change my ways.
Righteousness is *not* always keeping the peace because sometimes a sword
needs to be swung.  Righteousness is *not* always swinging a sword
because sometimes the peace needs to be kept. All told, righteousness is
a way of life bestowed upon us by God to be accepted or rejected.  It is
my great desire to please God as much as possible and so I seek His face
in everything I do.  Sometimes the way He directs me to take surprises me
because I thought the right way was exactly the opposite, but His way is
always right.  I live for Him and I don't look back because every day I
get closer to Him and someday I will meet Him face to face.

" Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day
of judgement: because as he is, so are we in this world." 
1 John 4:17

Lynne Yohnk

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