Righteousness is a person ONLY doing good to themselves, other people, and God’s plan. But, the way righteousness is produced is through LOVE. Mark 12:30-31 (NIV) LOVE the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘LOVE your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” Without the power of LOVE, none of your relationships will be righteous.

Once again, righteousness is a person ONLY doing good to themselves, other people, and God’s plan. However, the good in righteousness isn’t determined by humans. We think a lot of things are good; but, they aren’t. We even think certain things are bad; and, we are wrong. The Holy Spirit speaking to your conscience, Jesus causing certain things to pop up in your mind, and the Bible being read and studied establishes what is good or bad. God has labeled all bad things as sins; and, He has labeled all good things as righteousness. If God says something is righteous, then the long term results of that item or issue WILL turn out good. If God says something is sin, then the long term results of that item or issue WILL turn out bad. You can count on it!

Here is what LOVE your neighbor as yourself looks like: Mat 7:12 (NIV) So in EVERYTHING, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. In this commandment, Jesus is taking those things YOU consider good and using them to help your relationships with others. If a certain way isn’t the way you want to be treated, then simply don’t do that to others. This gives you a rule of thumb to start you off in pursuing righteousness. However, when you first start off as a Christian, your attitudes and character aren’t as well developed in GOOD as they will be later. Those things you want done to you in the beginnings of Christianity will change and improve.

Mark 12:30-31 (NIV) Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these. One VERY important thing happened to you when you made Jesus your Savior, Lord, and King. Rom 5:5 (NIV) And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out HIS love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, Whom He has given us. If you love your neighbor and yourself with GOD’S love, that will change your attitudes and character drastically.

Here is how you will treat yourself and others through God’s love: 1 Cor 13:4-8a (NIV) Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. It is easy to see how the pursuit of righteousness is mightily enhanced by you yielding to God’s love that HAS been poured out into your heart. You already have God’s love in your heart; you just have to learn how to yield to it. And, when you do, you will be empowered to love your neighbor AS yourself.

Jesus said in Matthew 5:21-22 (NIV) “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca [you empty headed, worthless person],’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell. In Matthew chapters five through seven, Jesus lays out some of the most important aspects of righteousness. He tells us how to treat the people around us. Some of them will take a lot of prayer before you will be able to live them. But, if you don’t just read them, if you “do what it takes” to live them, that will be YOU hungering and thirsting for righteousness.

According to Romans 5:5 you already have GOD’S LOVE inside you. According to Matthew 5:6 (NIV) Blessed are those who HUNGER AND THIRST FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS, for they will be filled. If you DESIRE to be filled with righteousness, Jesus will start helping you use God’s love to treat yourself, others, and God’s plan the right way. If you STUDY the Bible, Jesus will show you how to use God’s love. He will take you through Matthew chapters five through seven and give you examples of how to do it. If you PRAY, Jesus will accept your invitation and join you with His power to do what He teaches in Matthew chapters five through seven. If you BELIEVE, Jesus will empower you to live in relationships you never thought possible. If you yield to God’s LOVE, your reason for getting the things you need in your life will be so you can share them with others.