Self-righteousness Is Not of God

"Many of us believe that wrongs aren't wrong if it's done by nice people like ourselves.  - Unknown

20th century American clergyman, Charles L. Allen, once said this about self-righteousness: "The hardest people to reach with the love of God are not the bad people. They know they are bad. They have no defense. The hardest ones to win for God are the self-righteous people."

The dictionary defines self-righteousness as "confidence in one's own righteousness, especially when smugly moralistic and intolerant of the opinions and behavior of others."

Some people like to make up their own rules for living. I suppose it's easier to live up to your own expectations that way. After all, who wouldn't want to feel that they might be a little better than the rest of the pack (at least in their own mind)?

Nonetheless, the standard of our righteousness is not based on our own whims and notions. It is firmly planted in the perfection of God in every trait, mood, manner, and word. It is in His laws, as presented in Scripture, where we see both God's character, and the criterion by which He gauges human righteousness.

When it comes to self-righteousness, we are only fooling ourselves. You see, this blatant self-centeredness neither honors God nor values others. According to the Bible, the righteous individual is someone who is "just" or "right." That person should be accepting of, and trusting in, Him (Psalm 33:18-22).

On the flip-side of this, true and perfect righteousness is out of our hands. It is hopelessly impossible for us to ever achieve it on our own. Why? The bar is set too high. However, all is not lost, there is one way to get around this; a loophole if you will.

True righteousness, though not possible by anything we could do, is made possible; but only through the cleansing of sin by Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit who dwells inside us. There is no other way to acquire righteousness; whether on our own, or by any other means (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Jesus, on the cross, substituted our sin for His perfect righteousness (Romans 4:25; 1 Peter 3:18). He did this so that one day we can face God, not only sinless, but with the holy righteousness of Christ. In a nutshell, this means that by now being righteous from God's perspective, we are accepted and treated as such; all because of Jesus' unselfish and loving act.

Self-righteousness is only an illusion. There is no such thing. We are all wicked and corrupt. Even so, we have been given another chance (1 John 2:2). Due to Jesus' suffering on our behalf, we are now treated as if we had fully satisfied His law, and were never stained with sin. The most precious gift of  God's righteousness is now in our possession thanks to His mercy and grace.

Scripture; Titus 3:5; 1 John 1:9; John 14:15; Romans 8:7; 2 Timothy 3:16-17

Prayer: Dear God, I thank you for sending your Son Jesus to redeem us sinners. How foolish we are to think that we can accomplish or acquire our own salvation. May You always guide my heart in all that I say and do. Amen

May God bless you!

MaryAnne