The Pursuit of Righteousness
Hey Girls! We live in an extremely goal oriented world; especially in America. We place a high value on achieving many things. Whether it be personal, professional, relational, financial, or any number of "achievements"; we love to gather, list, and announce them to the world. We wear our achievements like a High School kid wears their letter jacket.
In fact, I've come across a few people who I bet secretly wish that we had Letter Jackets for Life. On their sleeves they would list their financial worth, their biggest "deal", their titles, their awards, perhaps even their weight. Whatever they take personal pride in, and would love the world to see and recognize them for what they have accomplished.
There is nothing wrong with being proud of the things you have worked hard to achieve. There is nothing wrong with wanting recognition. We all want to feel as though our lives mean something. We all want to feel as though we have added value to the world around us, and it feels good when others let us know that we have.
So many people spend their entire lives trying to prove something to themselves and the world. Prove that have something to offer. Prove that they are worth something. Prove that they are worthy of respect, admiration, honor, and love. Prove that their life matters.
They spend all of their time, energy, talents, and resources in these pursuits. Unfortunately, in the end they are still left feeling unsatisfied. They are still not confident that their life matters, and that they are indeed worthy of love, honor, and respect. I believe it is because in their desire to prove their worth they have pursued the wrong things. Their intentions may have been pure, but they were no less misguided.
It says in Proverbs 21:21 Whoever pursues righteousness and unfailing love will find life, righteousness, and honor. The Lord knows the desires of our heart. He knows we have a need to know that our life matters. We need to know that we are worthy. We need to know that we deserve a good life.
He also knows that we will try to find these answers in the wrong things. That is why He tells us what to pursue. Even though He tells us what to pursue, we still miss the boat at times. We read pursue righteousness and our mind says "do good things and do a lot of them to earn right standing with yourself, God, and the world." We read pursue unfailing love and our mind tells us "you are not complete unless you have a perfect mate and 2.3 perfect children."
So we spend our lives pursuing works and love....and we find our motivation and encouragement from the world in the form of the rat race and chick flicks.......Bless the Lord O my Soul!!!!! And we wonder why we still feel so empty......
Girls, I have finally begun to come to a place of understanding what righteousness really is and how it is achieved. Righteousness is just a big word for right standing with God. In other words, a place where you know as you know God loves you, is proud of you, is not angry, disappointed or fed up with you.
And it can only be achieved one way......through Jesus. When you accept that because of what Jesus did for you at the cross you yourself are righteous, you will be delivered from a life of trying to prove yourself! When I read pursue righteousness my mind AND my heart now say pursue Jesus!
Likewise, there is nobody in this world who is capable of unfailing love. We are human. We are prideful. We want our way. We can learn to put these fleshy desires aside and walk in love, but nobody gets it right 100% of the time. At some point we will fail someone we love or someone we love will fail us (if only for a moment). To ignore that truth is to set yourself and your loved ones up for disappointment.
The only one capable of unfailing love is Jesus. He assures us many times in His Word that He will never leave us or forsake us. The Psalms are filled with praise over Gods unfailing, never ending love for us. When I read pursue unfailing love, again my heart and my mind say pursue Jesus!
From now on I purpose to pursue Jesus rather than the trivial pursuits of the worlds ideas of personal accomplishment and success. I believe with all my heart that when I pursue my worth by pursuing Jesus I will in fact accomplish the work the Lord has planned for me.....but I will have accomplished it with grace rather than blood, sweat, and tears. I will find life, righteousness, and honor...without forsaking my friends, family, or any of the things that truly matter.
Anyone care to join me?
Proverbs 21:21 Whoever pursues righteousness and unfailing love will find life, righteousness, and honor.
Love, Grace, and a Pursuing Jesus day to you all-
Jen
In fact, I've come across a few people who I bet secretly wish that we had Letter Jackets for Life. On their sleeves they would list their financial worth, their biggest "deal", their titles, their awards, perhaps even their weight. Whatever they take personal pride in, and would love the world to see and recognize them for what they have accomplished.
There is nothing wrong with being proud of the things you have worked hard to achieve. There is nothing wrong with wanting recognition. We all want to feel as though our lives mean something. We all want to feel as though we have added value to the world around us, and it feels good when others let us know that we have.
So many people spend their entire lives trying to prove something to themselves and the world. Prove that have something to offer. Prove that they are worth something. Prove that they are worthy of respect, admiration, honor, and love. Prove that their life matters.
They spend all of their time, energy, talents, and resources in these pursuits. Unfortunately, in the end they are still left feeling unsatisfied. They are still not confident that their life matters, and that they are indeed worthy of love, honor, and respect. I believe it is because in their desire to prove their worth they have pursued the wrong things. Their intentions may have been pure, but they were no less misguided.
It says in Proverbs 21:21 Whoever pursues righteousness and unfailing love will find life, righteousness, and honor. The Lord knows the desires of our heart. He knows we have a need to know that our life matters. We need to know that we are worthy. We need to know that we deserve a good life.
He also knows that we will try to find these answers in the wrong things. That is why He tells us what to pursue. Even though He tells us what to pursue, we still miss the boat at times. We read pursue righteousness and our mind says "do good things and do a lot of them to earn right standing with yourself, God, and the world." We read pursue unfailing love and our mind tells us "you are not complete unless you have a perfect mate and 2.3 perfect children."
So we spend our lives pursuing works and love....and we find our motivation and encouragement from the world in the form of the rat race and chick flicks.......Bless the Lord O my Soul!!!!! And we wonder why we still feel so empty......
Girls, I have finally begun to come to a place of understanding what righteousness really is and how it is achieved. Righteousness is just a big word for right standing with God. In other words, a place where you know as you know God loves you, is proud of you, is not angry, disappointed or fed up with you.
And it can only be achieved one way......through Jesus. When you accept that because of what Jesus did for you at the cross you yourself are righteous, you will be delivered from a life of trying to prove yourself! When I read pursue righteousness my mind AND my heart now say pursue Jesus!
Likewise, there is nobody in this world who is capable of unfailing love. We are human. We are prideful. We want our way. We can learn to put these fleshy desires aside and walk in love, but nobody gets it right 100% of the time. At some point we will fail someone we love or someone we love will fail us (if only for a moment). To ignore that truth is to set yourself and your loved ones up for disappointment.
The only one capable of unfailing love is Jesus. He assures us many times in His Word that He will never leave us or forsake us. The Psalms are filled with praise over Gods unfailing, never ending love for us. When I read pursue unfailing love, again my heart and my mind say pursue Jesus!
From now on I purpose to pursue Jesus rather than the trivial pursuits of the worlds ideas of personal accomplishment and success. I believe with all my heart that when I pursue my worth by pursuing Jesus I will in fact accomplish the work the Lord has planned for me.....but I will have accomplished it with grace rather than blood, sweat, and tears. I will find life, righteousness, and honor...without forsaking my friends, family, or any of the things that truly matter.
Anyone care to join me?
Proverbs 21:21 Whoever pursues righteousness and unfailing love will find life, righteousness, and honor.
Love, Grace, and a Pursuing Jesus day to you all-
Jen
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