Pursuing Righteousness

Scripture – 2 Timothy 2:22-26: ²²Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. ²³Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. ²⁴And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. ²⁵Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, ²⁶and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.

Observation – (Write down what you see in the scripture.) Two things stick out to me here. First, there’s the counsel to avoid “foolish and stupid arguments.” I’ve become pretty good at recognizing those and staying out of them. As a pastor, I get a lot of random questions form people that are really statements in disguise. And the intent is to pull me into an argument about something that doesn’t matter. It’s not too hard to avoid those. The other thing I see here is much harder. That’s the instruction to actively “pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace.” It’s one thing to sort of live those out as I move through life. It’s a little different to pursue them. What are the implications of that?

Application – (Write how you will be different today because of what you have just read.) To me “righteousness” deals with behavior that’s grounded in and arises from a right relationship with Christ. I will explore the meaning of that word today. I’ll look for ways to pursue it – to grow in it. I will let Christ lead me into life today, using me to affect the world around me.

Prayer – (Write out a brief prayer.) Please keep teaching me, Lord. The word “righteousness” has a lot of meaning I have yet to discover. Help me see more of that meaning and show me how to pursue it in my daily living. Keep me ready for whatever you have in store this day.

An Invitation – If you’re interested in a face to face discussion about what we’ve been discovering in the Mini-Journal, a small group will be meeting this Sunday morning, 9:45 – 10:30am, at the Southgate Fun and Fitness Center (on Northline near I-75). Look for them around one of the tables in the Café area.