Righteousness is Another Word for Integrity Someone once surprised me, catching me off guard by calling me a “man of integrity.” Though honored by their perception, I shook my head. Yes, I aspire to be a person of integrity, but I’m not there. I have a long way to go and will never fully arrive. […]
Live a Life of Purity and Avoid Being Sexually Immoral In studying Revelation for my book, A New Heaven and a New Earth, two recurring phrases are sexual immorality and sexually immoral. The Bible decries this is something to avoid. But that begs the question: what is sexual immorality? No Moral Absolutes? The world teaches […]
Demonstrate Our Faith by What We Do I enjoy the writing and teaching of James. His words offer concise, practical teaching about being a follower of Jesus. James talks about the great faith of Abraham, exemplified by his willingness to kill his son Isaac in obedience to God. (Spoiler alert: It was only a test. […]
In the accounts of Jesus’ life, there’s a curious exchange he has with the religious leaders. Although he has many such interactions, this is perhaps the most perplexing. He tells them healthy people don’t need a doctor. True. Then he makes a parallel assertion that his purpose isn’t to help good people (the “righteous”) but […]
Jesus said, “It is not healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Jesus came for the sick. (Since he came to heal and to save, we may be able to comprehend this both literally and figuratively, that is, the physically sick and the spiritually […]
Lately God has been prodding me through his Word and his Spirit to pursue a more holy lifestyle. To me, holy living means right living, what God calls righteousness. Sometimes I make progress towards fulfilling this call, but most times not so much. I’m okay with that; I’m on a journey and the important thing […]
One final reflection on the prayer of Jabez. In the scant bio for Jabez, it describes him as a good man, saying he “was more righteous than his brothers.” Righteous is a word that we don’t use too often nowadays, but means to be morally upright. Jabez then was a good, morally upright person. Now, […]