Thank you for listening to the Cultivating Growth podcast, where we continue to talk about various ways in which we can grow in our relationship with God. Specifically, we'll talk this week about cultivating the growth when it comes to our righteousness, what the Bible has to say about that, what righteousness is.

We'll How we can pursue it and how we can grow in it. I'm looking forward to this conversation. So let's get right to it. 

Jeremy, righteousness is a very Bible word. It's one of those words that you hear oftentimes in religious settings. But I think sometimes it's a word that can be used so frequently in religious settings that the meaning behind it can get lost a little bit.  And I've heard it described as simply as possible as just being right wayness.

You'll hear that definition thrown out as a way to simplify what that word means. But I do think that's a helpful breakdown of that word because it does help us remember that righteousness is really about. Pursuing what is right and not what is right in the eyes of each individual, but what is right according to the standard of which God has set for mankind.

And so righteousness is defined by God's standard of what is right.  And it is now our job to walk in or move in the direction of that right way. And so it's, I think it's important to remember what we're talking about as we talk about this word. Because it is something that can so easily, the meaning behind it can so easily get lost on us.

Righteousness comes from a standard in which God has set for mankind. He has set the standard for right. And that is now our responsibility to know what that standard is and to walk in its way, and walk in its path. And so that's what we're gonna be talking about today when we talk about growing in righteousness, is how do we grow in this desire to walk in God's path, the, the righteousness that he has set forth for us.

Yeah, certainly the way that You know, God's word talks about righteousness is it's so much more than just knowing simply what the right way is. Now, that's an important component to it for sure. I mean, we got to be able to to know what the right way is before we can be righteous. So, you know, that's an important component.

But just knowing what the right way is. isn't biblical righteousness. You know, one of the, you know, one of the passages that, you know, we run across several times in the New Testament and pointing back to Abraham and the life that he lived and, you know, the decisions that he made, the way that he walked is you'll, you'll run across the phrase that it was accounted to him as righteous or as righteousness.

And so the writer would be looking, the New Testament writer will be looking at Abraham and be looking at the life that he lived, the decisions that he made. The, the choices that he made, the walk that he was on, that they would look to that and say, he made a discernment what the right way is, and then went the right way.

And we can then look at him and him walking in the right way. And the writer then saying, there is someone who is righteous. And so it's so much more than just knowing what the right way is. That's important, but it is also walking in that way. So I like that definition. I really like it. It simplifies things, but I'm a simple guy.

Yeah, me too. And, and to your point, Jesus recognized this in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter five and verse six, he says, blessed are those who hunger and Thirst for righteousness. So you almost get this picture of someone who is just craving it and not, not someone who, to your point, just, yeah, I kind of know what that is.

I can define it for you that again, as you pointed out, it's important. You got to know what it is. But then you've got to want it and desire it, crave it, you know, hunger and thirst after it. It has to be something that is so important to you that you're willing to go to even extreme measures to pursue righteousness.

And that's, that's something that I think is important for all of us to give consideration to. Are we Are we pursuing righteousness? Are we hungering and thirsting after righteousness? Or are we content with just being able to define it? Are we content with just being able to know what it is? And I think there is a big distinction to be made there.

And we have to make sure that we're the kind of people who are hungering and thirsting.  It kind of reminds me to how we talked about wisdom last week, right? In that, you know, as you read there at the beginning of the book of Proverbs, and it talks about wisdom as something that you go after, that you're searching for it and you want to grab a hold of it.

That's how righteousness is talked about. Certainly, the way he talks about it in, uh, You know, it's the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, 6, and 7, you know, you made mention there in verse 6 of the hungering and thirsting, you know, for righteousness. I think sometimes, at least in our culture, we struggle with passages like that because, you know, for the most part, we've not really hungered or thirsted.

I mean, I get hungry and I get thirsty, but not the way that it's talked about, you know, right here. It is that strong desire to have something. And that's why then he's able to move very quickly into, you know, a passage like chapter five and verse 20 of Matthew that really sets up the whole body, if you will, for what the Sermon on the Mount is, and talking about our righteousness, that the righteousness of his disciple.

Is to be different from the righteousness of the Pharisees. And then he goes on in the next whole two chapters and chapter five and six, and he points out examples of what righteousness then is, and that is the righteousness that we should be pursuing. Yeah. He's talking about the standard of righteousness in which we are to be held to.

And that standard is not defined by the Pharisees. In fact, it says you're to, you're to exceed their righteousness. You're not, you're not holding yourself to the standard of righteousness of the Pharisees. You're called to a higher level of righteousness than they. And so we, we have to make sure that we're not doing that with one another.

You are not my standard of righteousness. I'm not your standard of righteousness. God is my standard of righteousness and that's what I'm pursuing. That's what I'm hungering and thirsting after are His ways. That, that, that's really what's on my mind constantly.  And there's so many passages of scripture that talk about the, the need to pursue righteousness, but there was a passage in first John three and verse seven that I really liked when I was just studying for this, preparing for this podcast because it talks about whoever practices righteousness is righteous.

It's not the one who proclaims righteousness. It's not the one who says I'm righteous, but the one who practices righteousness is righteous. And so I have the responsibility then to make sure that my actions show my righteousness. That I am acting in the right way according to God's standard every single day.

And in every single action, interaction with one another. Am I acting in the right way according to God? If I am, if I am doing that, that is what makes me righteous because I'm acting in the right way according to God's standard. And that's something that I think it changes the way we think about almost every decision that we make in this life.

Yeah, I mean, you get the negative even given to us there in chapter 3, you know, in verse 10 about, you know, if you don't practice righteousness, you're not of God, and that's very similar writing that you get from John, especially here in this first epistle, where he'll make the point that you can say something, but if your life isn't showcasing something, You can say you have a great relationship with God, but if your life doesn't show that, you're lying about having a great relationship.

And he does that right here. It's not just being, having the knowledge of righteousness. You've got to practice righteousness. And if you're not, if you're not practicing righteousness, you're not of God. And so you have this simplicity of direction about what righteousness is, about our walk and what it's all about.

And certainly you can go through the New Testament.  The Old Testament as well, for that matter, and to see that once we, we find what God's way is, I'm now pattering my life  in God's way. Now I'm I'm living righteous. I'm living right wayward, right? I mean, we're living in the right way. It's not just about knowing what righteous, what the right way is.

It's living in the right way. And in 2 Timothy 3, verse 16, it says, All scripture is given, By the inspiration of God and his profitable for doctrine, for proof, for correction, for instruction and righteousness. And, and so to your point, God is the one who has given us through his word, the instructions that lead us to righteousness.

And so, you know, oftentimes, you know, we may use a phrase or may hear a phrase like self righteous being thrown out.  Self righteous is, as what it sounds, it is righteousness defined by one's own self, and that is in direct opposition to the righteousness of God. God makes us righteous because he has provided the instructions for us.

for righteousness. And so he is responsible for my righteousness because without his leadership in this area, without his word that instructs me in these areas, I would have no hope of righteousness because I wouldn't know what was righteous or what wasn't. And so this is so important that we look into God's word for not just the definition of righteousness, but for the instructions that lead us to righteousness.

We can't have any level of true righteousness in our life without God's word, leading us, guiding us and instructing us. Yeah, I had a second Timothy three in my mind as well as one of the passages, you know, I would have liked to have brought up and you know, it is, it gives us certainly that, you know, that picture, you know, there in verse 16 where it talks about scripture and then he's giving us  What Scripture does, right?

What it's there for, and you have all of these things that's mentioned, and that it is given to us there. Instruction in righteousness. That's what Scripture does. And so if we're in a practical way trying to grow in our righteousness, that you take a passage like this in 2 Timothy chapter 3, and, you know, an easy way to do that is I've got to be able to pick up Scripture.

And when I'm able to pick up scripture, I'm able to get a picture of what God's way is, the right way. It is truth. I mean, Jesus will make that point, you know, directly that his, his, his way is the truth. His words are truth. And so that's what we're patterning our life after. And so if I'm able to pattern my life after that, now I'm being instructed in righteousness.

Now I can. live righteously. And so we're maybe we're able to interchange that word in so many different ways, but each of each of it comes back to almost a verb like existence, right? That this is the way that I'm living. I'm living as a righteous person. I'm living righteously. My life is full of righteousness.

I mean, all of those ways are used really in the exact same way. And it all goes back to our desire to be more light. God, he, he is righteousness. He is righteous in every way. And so what we're striving for is to pattern our lives to be more like him. And so Jesus is our perfect example of righteousness.

He is the perfect example of, of one whose interactions with people and the decisions that he make are a perfect example of righteousness for us to follow. And so we, we should live each day. Trying to be more like him in every way. We can also then take that same principle and carefully apply it to other people as well.

When we see righteous men and women who are living in the way that God wants them to, we can learn from the way that they behave and the way that they interact and the way that they talk and the things that they do and don't do. They can also help us grow in righteousness and Because they are holding themselves accountable to God's righteous ways.

And so we can then be of help to one another in that way. Again, you mentioned it earlier, but similar to the conversation last week about wisdom, we have a responsibility, one another, to help each other grow in the area of righteousness. That first means that I have to make sure that. I am living a righteous life so that I am then able to help others grow in this area as well.

And so it's important to find men and women in our lives. Uh, who are doing that very thing and to learn from them and to see their example as they're trying to pattern their lives after Christ. And so we can all help one another grow in this area. You know, listen, we use just the phrases right and wrong all the time.

And we teach, we try to teach our children what's right and wrong. Our country, uh, and all countries try to teach their citizens what is right and what is wrong. But you think about how we use those words all the time. We never use those solely as knowing what is right and wrong. But it always comes down to doing right or doing wrong.

That's what it always comes down to. And every Facet of the use of that word and so that's how we've got to be able to think about it even spiritually It's not about just knowing right and wrong. It's doing right and not doing wrong That's what it comes down to and that's righteous living. Yep. Well, let's wrap things up in first timothy chapter 6  as as Paul's concluding this first letter to Timothy.

He talks about some things that need to be avoided. And he talks about the love of money being the root of all kinds of evil and greediness that comes from that. Listen to what he says in verse 11, and we'll close with these words, but you, oh man of God, flee these things, talking about what I just mentioned there in verse 10, flee these things and pursue righteousness.

Godliness, faith, love, patience, and gentleness. 

Thank you for listening this week. If you haven't already done so, we'd appreciate it if you would take just a second to subscribe to the podcast, whatever platform you're listening, rate and review the show so we can continue to spread the good news of Jesus widely and effectively as possible. Thanks again for joining us this week, and we'll talk again next week.