.paradox.

One of the most counter-intuitive truths of Christianity, I think, is this:

You can avoid everything “wrong” and still fail to be righteous. 

True righteousness is not measured by the absence of evil. It is not enough to merely avoid that which is bad. Real goodness is pervasive, invasive, and ever-active.

If I do not harm my neighbor, yet never actively do good to him/for him, have I treated him righteously?
No.

If I muster enough patience to treat people around me nicely, yet my life leaves others unchanged, am I truly righteous?
No.

*shakes head*
That’s just crazy.

Oh how much we need the Gospel of Grace which reminds us that we are indeed failures — but totally and completely loved by a God who promises to do what we absolutely cannot do by our own efforts: Remove this sinful heart and replace it with one that longs for active righteousness.