Growing up in my childhood home, it was normal for me to appreciate how it operated. Dad and Mum oversaw the three of us as children. That oversight meant we could enjoy certain privileges as long as we maintained the behaviour expected of us. It was not unusual for me to slightly veer from those standards on one or two occasions. It was also not unusual for such veering to be met by my Dad, who would helpfully redirect my path. I was aware of when I veered because of the way in which my Dad would encourage me to change course.
On reflection, I’m sure my parents did a great job with their three children, ensuring they knew the standards. One thing they could never do, however, was the inside work that made veering undesirable. My parents couldn’t attend to that matter; they could only attend to what was presented to them. As it transpired, that tendency to veer is a part of the human condition.
Discovering this had a significant impact on me. Behaviour management did not address the issues of the heart and the matters of desires. Indeed, I observed many people who could have the right behaviour on the surface but still had issues going on that made it little more than a front. As I got to know the way of life more, I saw why there was such a need for someone to do the work from the inside out, rather than expect external forces to do it.
Righteousness was something that I grew to understand was not primarily about behaviour management. It wasn’t my Dad helpfully pointing out where I veered away. Righteousness, as expressed in Jesus Christ, was a heart arranged to desire what was pleasing to God. As Jesus only did what pleased the Lord, it became evident that this is what righteousness was based on. A desire at heart to be aligned with what the Father desired. From that rearranged heart connected to God comes a growing realisation that it’s about doing and being everything pleasing to God. And that is sourced in belonging to God in the first place.
Understanding this also helped me appreciate why those without Christ in their lives don’t have an affinity for this kind of righteousness. When we turn our backs on God, we are left with our own standards and idea of what righteousness is, and in that context we justify ourselves as others fail to meet our standards. It’s a mess, but one we think is tolerable because that’s just the way things are. But that’s not the way God planned it. That’s the way He rules.
Life in the rule of God is something about a renewed mind that appreciates that all that’s good and perfect comes from God. Acknowledging that and yielding to that is the first step towards seeing what His righteousness looks like. It’s a world aligned with the way He’s made the world and designed human beings to find fulfilment only in Him. Righteousness is not a list of rules to observe; it’s a relationship in the Spirit to explore and express as we get to know God and see His will done on earth as it is in heaven.
Encouraging the perspective of righteousness as something based on God is very humbling for someone who prefers to operate thinking I know what’s right and will do what I want. It’s humbling to see a better way in Jesus. It’s humbling to acknowledge the need to depend on God to see that better way emerge from the inside out. It’s humbling to experience the work of the Holy Spirit on the inside, directing the appetite, the desire, and the drive toward what pleases God. It’s humbling, and it’s liberating.
Since the rule of God is all that matters in life, I’m grateful for the home in which I grew up that was all about acknowledging God, who could do more than my Dad did when it came to my tendency to wander. One day there will be a time and place where people will take delight in doing and being everything pleasing to God. Until that day, we have the privilege of seeking God to create in us a clean heart where we live by the reality that, as Jesus became sin for us, in Him we become the righteousness of God, and that’s a truth that comes from belonging above everything else, but shapes believing, behaving and becoming afterwards.
For His Name’s Sake
C. L. J. Dryden
Shalom
Morning dear Christopher, Thank you for sharing your notes with me. It is so much that God blessing you with, such refreshment to my spirit to engage and read these notes.This especially speaks to me : “Righteousness is not a list of rules to observe; it’s a relationship in the Spirit to explore and express as we get to know God and see His will done on earth as it is in heaven.”God richly bless you. DenisaSent from my Galaxy