A few weeks ago, I discussed how Jesus is our standard for righteousness and that we should imitate Him. But why is it essential to imitate God? Yes, it is the right thing to do but why? Many people know right from wrong, but they don’t heed it because they don’t understand the importance of doing right over wrong. See, you will only desire to break free from something if you know the benefits of freedom. So, that is what I’m going to discuss today, not just preach righteousness but reveal to you why it is important, a blessing, and an overall benefit to be righteous.
Here’s a little recap of what righteousness is. To make a long story short, righteousness is following and being led by the Holy Spirit. Righteousness makes us justifiable, and we are justified through Jesus! And His Spirit lives in us! So, when you are living by His Spirit, you are righteous!
Your Expectations Are Met!
A great benefit of living by God’s Spirit is that our expectations are met! Proverbs 10:28 says, “The hope of the righteous will be gladness, But the expectation of the wicked will perish.” So, when we hope or expect something, our outcome/end result will be gladness! Living righteously pays off, and God rewards us! So, God will grant you what you ask in prayer, what you desire and expect! Psalms 37:4 says, “Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.” If you live by His Spirit, I’m sure you delight yourself in The Lord; therefore, all your desires will be fulfilled. Don’t worry about anything; continue living for God, put Him first, listen to His Spirit, and all your expectations will be met! You are going to be fine, and everything will fall into place!
God Protects The Righteous
When you follow the leading of The Lord, God can protect you because you aren’t living in sin and putting yourself in dangerous situations. By listening to God’s Spirit, He will tell you where to go, where not to go, what to do, what not to do, etc. And listening to that keeps us from harm! Living a life of sin means you are outside God’s hedge, and He cannot protect you because you aren’t living His way. So, you are more likely to go to places where your life is in danger. Proverbs 13:6 says, “Righteousness guards him whose way is blameless, But wickedness overthrows the sinner.” Living a righteous life is a guard and protection! Now, the verse says overthrows, which can mean remove and bring about the downfall of (someone). Living in sin can quite literally remove you from this earth, but it is also your downfall! It takes you further from God; a life without God is without blessing, peace, joy, protection, and so much more! Life with God is the opposite! I’ve always noticed that when I’m straying away from God, my joy level is depleted like I might as well be depressed because I feel something is missing, that there’s a void. I feel as if my life is going downhill, but I am at my happiest when I am close to God and being led by His Spirit!
Psalm 91:7 says, “A thousand may fall at your side, And ten thousand at your right hand; But it shall not come near you.” The beautiful thing about making The Lord your “refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place,”
(Psalms 91:9) Is that, even when there is destruction all around you, it will not harm you. When everyone else gets sick, you’ll remain healthy; when everyone else suffers destruction, whether, from natural disasters, death, financial crisis, etc., it will not come near you! You won’t be affected by it! Why? Because you chose God over everyone else! You made Him your dwelling place; when things went wrong, you ran to Him! And like I said before, God honors those who seek Him, those who want Him, and follow Him! Psalms 23:3 says, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” This is a similar concept to Psalm 91:7, God protects you from surrounding evils, so you don’t have to worry when all you see is destruction and corruption around you; it won’t harm you! If sex trafficking, kidnappings, killings, robberies, etc., are increasing, you still have nothing to fear because God is with you, protecting you with His divine power because you choose to live for Him by His Spirit!
Righteousness Leads to Life!
Furthermore, Proverbs 12:28 says, “In the way of righteousness is life, And in its pathway, there is no death.” God promises life in all areas to the righteous; why? Because as we yield to His Spirit and His way, we are enlightened with His thoughts, which bring prosperity and life to every area! God’s way provides new ideas, favor, acceleration, and promotion! These are all good things that bring life! When you are righteous, good things are not allowed to die in your life! You are always permitted to have more than enough, have joy, peace, financial stability, spiritual power, and more! II Peter 1:3 says, “As His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,” So, anything good that moves you forward in life that increases your peace, joy, and faith, are the things that pertain to life! And when we are living righteously, we have all those things God gives us! And they cannot die as long as we live for Him! Proverbs 11:19 says something similar, “As righteousness leads to life, So he who pursues evil pursues it to his own death.” If you feel your life is falling apart or dying, examine how righteously you live. How much are you yielding to God’s Spirit? Not saying you are pursuing evil, but if you aren’t chasing God, then what are you chasing? You must answer that for yourself so that you can be guided towards life and not death, spiritual and physical.
God Delivers The Righteous
Oh, your lack of worries when you live a righteous life! God takes care of those who put His Spirit and Way above their flesh! Psalms 34:19 says, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the Lord delivers him out of them all.” You got a problem? Don’t worry about it! God’s got it! If you live a righteous life, God’s got your life handled! You can have all the problems in the world, and God will bring you out of each and every one of them! Not some, not most, not one, but “the Lord delivers him out of them ALL!” Be at peace; God has it handled. He has your bills paid, the food you’ll eat, the car you’ll drive, your housing, your peace of mind, your health, etc.; God’s got it all covered! And that is what I love about God; He doesn’t expect you to serve Him and live by His Spirit without reward. He sees your effort and love for Him, and He repays you! So, stop worrying about your struggles. I Peter 5:7 NKJV says we are to cast “all [our] care upon Him, for He cares for [us].” He can handle it all, and He said He will, so have peace in the storm. You are being rewarded for your righteousness, and all of your problems are handled by the one and only God Almighty!
Righteousness Offers Peace
Romans 14:17 says, “For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” Remember, in the previous section, I said righteousness brings about life, and life includes peace. Peace and righteousness go hand in hand. When you are following the Holy Spirit, peace and joy follow! So, if you realize you’re in a time of depression, are you living by the Spirit? Or are you giving into your flesh? Whether that be listening to your fears, living in sin, putting your problems above God, etc. Those things cause you to live outside the Spirit, drawing us away from righteousness! Again, I have the most peace of mind when I am living by God’s Spirit. We are to find joy and peace in God; when you seek it elsewhere, you get the opposite! When you are righteous, peace and joy are always abundant!
Isaiah 32:17 says, “The work of righteousness will be peace, And the effect of righteousness, quietness, and assurance forever.” Again, righteousness and peace are buddies; you can’t be righteous without peace and can’t have true peace without being righteous! You live a “quiet” peaceful life, and it’ll be full of assurance from God. So, you never have to wonder about anything because God is on your side. As you walk with the Spirit, God will assure you that you’re making the right choices, and you will benefit from the effort you’re making! Righteousness is not without reward, so keep walking with God!
God Grants Favors Towards The Righteous and Answers Their Prayers
Ah, just so many benefits! God’s favor surrounds the righteous, and He answers their prayers! Psalm 5:12 says, “For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous; With favor, You will surround him as with a shield.” God will bless you and surround you with favor! What does that mean? It means that what happens to others you’re exempt from. Your case and situation will always be different, and give glory to God! Everyone around you can be struggling, losing their jobs, suffering from inflation, etc., but you are exempt! It causes you to flourish in difficult times, for people to do things that elevate you just because they “felt like it”! It’s unexplainable, but it’s God at the end of the day! That is God’s favor surrounding you because you live righteously!
I Peter 3:14 says, “But even if you should suffer for righteousness sake, you are blessed. “And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.” Even if you lose friends, stop getting invited to places, and people start being cruel to you, you are still blessed! Even if it doesn’t feel like it, you are blessed! God doesn’t take living for Him lightly! There is a reward to being righteous, whether it feels like it or not. Matthew 5:6 says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.” Keep thirsting, being hungry, and chasing God, because it will pay off! It is not in vain; God sees it is all, and He is pleased with you!
Additionally, He answers your prayers! 1 Peter 3:12 says, “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their prayers, But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” God’s ears are open to you! So, if you’re ever feeling discouraged about prayer, remember this verse. And when God hears you, and you’re praying in His will, know that your prayers are answered! I John 5:15 says, “And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.” This is a privilege we have as righteous people, so don’t ever feel like God doesn’t hear you or that He won’t answer you! You will have whatever you ask! Let this increase your faith today, and go pray some mountain-moving prayers!
God Loves Righteousness, and They Have Eternal Life
Hebrews 1:9 says, “You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions.” Because God loves righteousness, He blesses and anoints those who walk in it. Actually, because you are righteous, you are more anointed than those around you. You are set apart and different and called to the purpose of God, which puts you at a higher level than your peers who do not live for God. Don’t take living for God lightly; the anointing you receive from being righteous is what allows us to be world-changers. Jesus could not have been the force He was if He wasn’t anointed. You are anointed and called to an extraordinary purpose! That anointing on your life will bring others to Christ and change your own life, so keep chasing God and living righteously. Lastly, being righteous leads to eternal life, which is the most important thing we must consider! This is what everyone should be striving towards, eternal life with God! I created this blog to lead others to eternal life with God, which is given to the righteous!! Matthew 25:46 says, “And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” Jesus is saying this to the disciples after telling them some fundamental principles about life. For instance, before this verse, He is talking about how we should always look to help others, clothe people when they are naked, and feed them when they are hungry. These principles will not go away, and we must follow them. It shows others that we have the heart of Christ, and of course, when you are following the Spirit, you have the heart of Christ. So, though I’ve been talking about the personal benefits of being righteous, being righteous benefits those around you; it causes you to care and give more, which is what Jesus also requires us to do in Matthew 25. And as we follow Jesus’s instructions, each and every one of them, we shall have eternal life.
If you feel that you aren’t living righteously, meaning you aren’t living a life where you are walking by the Spirit of God, I invite you to pray the sinners’ prayers. Without salvation, you cannot be righteous because we can only be righteous through Jesus’ Holy Spirit, which can only be obtained by getting saved. None of these benefits apply to you if you lack the Holy Spirit, so if these wonderful benefits are something you wish to experience in your life, say this prayer; “Dear Heavenly Father, I repent of my sins and turn my back to them. I believe Jesus is the Son of God and that He died on the cross for my sins and rose on the third day. I accept Him into my heart now. I believe Jesus is Lord, and By faith, I give Him my whole life, heart, mind, and soul. Amen!” Now, you have allowed Jesus into your heart and are justified through Him, making you righteous! Now, you can experience all the wonderful benefits of righteousness! I hope this helped, and God bless!
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