On the Flip SideSample

I don't know if you've ever been described by these dreaded words: "You are so self-righteous!" If you have, you know the shame that comes with it. Somehow in our world today, "righteousness" has fallen on some really hard times. In fact, many of us go out of our way to look UN-righteous, just to avoid it.

But what is righteousness, anyway? For many of us, righteousness means that we simply avoid bad behavior. In fact, there was a whole crew of men during Jesus' time whose mission in life was to avoid bad people and behavior. You may have heard of them — the Pharisees. Whenever Jesus confronted them, he would often tell them: "All you care about it is how you present yourself to others, and that's not righteousness!" And that's the point — it's not just about the appearance of our good deeds. Righteousness is not just about doing the right things; it's also about the right intention.

So today, think about what it means to live out God's love and righteousness by considering your own intentions and demonstrating small acts of kindness.