On Being "Right"

A friend and I were talking and righteouness came up and that reminded me of this article I wrote for our church newsletter. Thought I would share it with you.



On being “right”

In the south we have a saying. When you think someone has problems you say, "He ain't right". (Now I know that isn't correct English but let’s ignore that for now). So if your co-worker suddenly gets mad at you and stomps out of the room slamming the door behind her. You look around and say to whoever is in the room "She ain't right", while shaking your head. Or if some bozo cuts you off while you are driving. You don't get mad you just say to yourself. "He ain't right." Or if your teenager wants something just ridiculous. You look at your spouse and say, “She ain’t right.“ Of course that might be something from your spouse’s side of the family. But that is getting off track… Just whenever someone is saying or doing something entirely off the wall you can refer to our southern saying. “He or she ain’t right”. You get the idea.
Well, today I was reading in the Bible and I got so excited it tells how you and I can be right or righteous. I heard someone explain that righteousness is right thinking, right living, right being, . So we CAN be right. But if you are like I am, you might have a long history of not being right. Maybe lots of baggage from the past. Times when we definitely didn't have a right thinking or weren't living right in anyone's eyes even our own. But I read that if we have faith in Him who raised Jesus from the dead it is counted or credited to us as righteousness. Wow isn't that awesome? We who have a long history of bad choices, mistakes and even out and out rebellion can be forgiven. And than as we believe in God, he takes our faith and see us as righteous or right. Simply amazing! It went on to say that we couldn't work for it. No matter how good we can be, that doesn't count. No matter what good works you do they don’t count. Of course, don’t stop being good or doing good things, just don’t’ think they are making you a righteous person. Only faith in the God who created us counts as righteousness.
I've heard people say that new growth like we are experiencing right now in the spring time, represents when Jesus came back to life from the dead. The trees were asleep, dormant and now they are blooming and living again. And so as I ride all over my county on my bus and see the new multi-colored tulips, the yellow daffodils, the redbud trees (which by the way are purple. I have no idea why), the yellow bell bushes, the lavender lilac bushes, the white dogwood trees and those trees that look like lace is floating on them and all the others that are blooming vibrantly with an outrageous abandon . I am reminded that He lives and I believe in him and God counts that as me being right. I, who sometimes am a mess of a person , am made right before God. So, people may be able to shake their heads at me sometimes and say, "She ain't right“. And sometimes mentally I’m not. But they can't say I'm not right spiritually. Because I am. Doesn't that just blow you away? It's so great it is hard to wrap your mind around it. We can be right before God. Way cool.