Pursuit of Righteousness
Righteousness, an attribute that implies that a
person’s actions are justified and can have the connotation that the person has
been judged or reckoned as leading a life that is pleasing to God. – Wikipedia
We live in a society where righteousness can be
perceived as being a smug, more like self-righteousness where we tend to
attribute to ourselves the standardization of the measurement of righteousness.
In the church, some people portray the image of righteousness, publicly
displaying their piousness so as to be recognised as being righteous; however,
deep down they are the opposite of righteousness. Jesus told the parable of the
Pharisee and the Publican; the Pharisee is the typical example of
self-righteousness – believing that one is perfect according to the
specification of the law.
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| Righteousness through the cross |
Self-righteousness causes conflict in our interactions
with other people. It makes us blame the fallen ones with easy, making us think
ourselves infallible and hypocrites. However, one thing we easily forget is
that the measurement of righteousness is God, not ourselves and definitely not
the law.
“Human anger does not produce
the righteousness that God desires.” – Manny
Pacquiao
In the eastern religions cum philosophy such as
Hinduism and Buddhism, etc; there is more emphasis on ‘Right Action’ than ‘Righteousness’.
This because when one seek to become righteous, they overtly tend to become
self-righteous; this is because they end up defining the standard of righteousness.
Self-righteousness make people become possessive, they become more self-attached.
What is right action? Speaking the truth to the best of our knowledge and
avoiding wrong actions – actions that go against the freedom of others.
“The atom bomb was no 'great
decision.' It was merely another powerful weapon in the arsenal of
righteousness.” - Harry S Truman
During the World War 2, the Japanese took the
war to the ‘neutral’ Americans due to their interests in world domination – the
Asia-Pacific region. The Americans responded massively, the atom became weaponized,
many lives were lost, and many lives were saved as well. President Harry S
Truman claims that the use of the atom bomb was a righteous decision because it
saved lives of thousands of American soldiers that could have died if the
weapon was not deployed; however, how about the lives of the Japanese, how
about Nagasaki and Hiroshima residents. We need to watch our decisions, our
thoughts, and our egos, so as to not become overtly self-righteous.
“Every person who confesses
that Christ Jesus is Lord, repents of their sin and gives their heart to God is
a child of God and belongs to Him. And in Christ, we are made right with God,
we are His righteousness, and we have the power of Christ in us to live right.”
- Joyce Meyer
In Christianity, Saint Paul spoke of ways of
attaining righteousness; the first is through the law of mosses and the second
is through faith in the atonement made possible by the death and resurrection of
Jesus Christ. Furthermore, Saint James spoke about the relationship between
faith and works of righteousness – works of charity; they are inseparable, they
go hand in hand.
God in His awesomeness is righteous and He is
the only standard of righteousness. The modification of the ten commandments of
mosses by Jesus into two commandments can be our guidelines for righteousness: love
God and love your neighbour as yourself. Consequently, to be righteous, we need
to be considerate to our maker our God, ourselves – our conscience, and other
people – our neighbours; we need to do onto others what we do onto ourselves.
“I follow three rules: Do the
right thing, do the best you can, and always show people you care. ” ― Lou
Holtz
Truth,
right actions, faith and love are the ingredients to righteous life.
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