Righteousness

Like most writers, I am a lover of words and phrases. Thesaurus.Com is my number one writing buddy. A breeze of giddiness embosoms me whenever I search for the origins of common sayings such as, “It’s raining cats and dogs.” Despite my desire to master the English language, I still confuse some words now and again. For example, I often look up affect verses effect. Stationary and stationery puzzle me at times, as do complement and compliment. Most recently, the word righteousness invoked many sighs as I dug deeper into studying The Armor of God, referenced in the book of Ephesians.

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place.” Eph 6:10-14.

Prior to this study, whenever I read the word righteousness, I believed it’s meaning to be what is found in The American Heritage Dictionary, “Morally upright; without guilt or sin.” Knowing this and also reading in God’s word that I am to put on a breast plate of righteousness put me in a conundrum. How can I, one who sins, put on a garment of righteousness? And not only a garment, but a piece of armor designed to protect the organs that my body cannot live with out; chief among those organs is the heart. It does not get more important than that. I want to be obedient in this, but I cannot, not if this is the definition is the driving force behind my desire. So why then would God ask the impossible? Click on the link below for the rest of the article.