Wednesday, June 11, 2008

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.


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12 comments:

Andrew Clarke said...

A possible answer? Putting on the breastplate of righteousness is part of putting on the blood of Christ. When we become His followers, His people, then His blood blots out our sins; and thus we are covered from judgement, and by taking cover in Christ we are less susceptible to temptation. As the blood on the doorposts covered the Israelites from being struck by the angel of death, so are we covered by Jesus' sacrifice. And by putting on Jesus' Salvation, we are shielded from the degree of temptation that may fall upon the unbeliever who does not heed God's Word. Does this sound right to you?
Feel free to visit my blog at http://threeswans.blogspot.com and comment if you wish. Blessings to you.

Melissa said...

This was news to me, too. You're right, it's not any easier really. Just this morning, I was praying that God would take away any desires I have for ministry that are not from Him. That's long been a battle of mine.

Good stuff here, girl!

Anonymous said...

awesome verse, thanks for sharing your thoughts!

Brittany said...

hmm I needed to read this today. I love how the Lord does that! Always gives us what we need.

Thanks for being His vessel today!

Amy Plumb said...

I found your blog today and really needed to read this. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

Genny said...

Loved it, Angela! Beautiful.

Bryce said...

Hey! I read this on Faith Lifts and then came across your blog! This is an excellent piece, I love how you share what God has been showing you and those timeless truths for us - submit, trust, believe and accept. Thanks for the valuable reminder!

Tracy said...

wow - you certainly receive a little of everything in the comment section eh?
hhhmmmmmm

Candace said...

Beautiful post. Thank you for sharing!

Lisa Spence said...

LOVE thesaurus.com and her sister site dictionary.com!

Eric Reinhold said...

Love this. The Armor of God and Ephesians 6 is what my book series is based upon.
Eric Reinhold, Author
Ryann Watters and the King's Sword (May 2008)
Ryann Watters and the Shield of Faith (May 2009)
www.RyannWatters.com

Eric Reinhold said...

Also... my favorite website for "real" armor is:
www.realarmorofgod.com. They provided the swords for our Fantasy Author Tour! I also bought what I use as "The Shield of Faith" for my second novel from them. EJR

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