“Surely the righteous will never be shaken…” (Psalm 112:6)

There is a word that Christians need to reclaim.

It’s been neglected and avoided. That’s a problem. Why? Because it’s God’s word.

The word is righteousness.

Did you wish I had said something else? Perhaps love or courage or community? These are all a part of it. 

But our knee-jerk negative response might be evidence that there’s a problem in our thinking. Why do we shy away from a word and a way of life that God lifts high?

Perhaps it’s because it makes us think of someone who is self-righteous. It suggests a proud sense of moral superiority and la-dee-dah toward other people. That’s obviously not a good thing.

But that’s not what the word actually means. In the Bible, it tends to refer to two major things. One of them is a way of life. It is living in a way that is right with God and right with others. Someone who is truly “righteous” is someone who is humble, faithful to the Lord, and loving toward other people. 

I put together a podcast and blog about this very topic. If you want to go deeper you can link to it below. But for the purposes of this devotional our focus is to simply halt our avoidance of a word and idea which God foregrounds in the lives of his people.

C.R. Wiley writes: “Eliminate a word and you eliminate an idea, and, by implication, a way of living that the idea suggests.”*

We fail every day. We stumble. We need the grace of God—big time. But let’s not eliminate a word God gives to his people. He calls us forward to be more like Christ, “the righteous” (1 John 2:1). Humble. Faithful. Loving.

What should I pray for myself? Righteousness.

What should I pray for my friends? Righteousness.

What should I pray for my spouse? Righteousness.

What should I pray for my children? Righteousness.

What should I pray for my church? Righteousness.

What should I pray for our leaders? Righteousness.

What should I pray for my country? Righteousness.

Not self-righteousness, that’s different. But actual righteousness—right-ness before God and others: humble, faithful, loving, and totally dependent on the grace of God.

This is a word that Christians need to reclaim. Let’s do it—and live it—for the glory of God.

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Notes and extra content:

-“The word that Christians need to reclaim.” New podcast and post. Click here or find it on ‘The Pulse Podcast with Matthew Ruttan’ wherever you subscribe (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc.)

-*C.R. Wiley, The Household and the War for the Cosmos (Canon Press, 2019), 18.

-Bible quotes are from the NIV.