Sowing Seeds of Righteousness

This post in an excerpt from my daily devotional, and it's one that really hit home. This is the devotion for January 11:

Sowing Seeds of Righteousness

"But he who sows righteousness will have a sure reward." - Proverbs 11:18b

There are many ways to invest our lives, but none offers greater reward than devoting ourselves to the pursuit of righteousness. Every area of our lives should reflect the holiness of God that is ours by salvation: our thoughts, so that nothing we think about would be inappropriate for a child of God; our actions, so that our lives demonstrate that we serve a holy God; our integrity, so that we are above reproach in all our relationships.

Are you taking God's righteousness in your life for granted? Righteousness is something you must allow the Holy Spirit to work in your life. Instead of sowing holy thoughts, are you allowing evil and sinful thoughts to grow in your mind? Are you allowing lust to grow unchecked within you? Does enmity, bitterness, jealousy, or unforgiveness remain in your life? Jesus said if we seek first God and His righteousness, everything else will follow. (Matt. 6:33)

There is great reward in sowing righteousness. What are you presently doing to plany holiness in your life? (1 Pet. 1:15). How are you putting righteousness in your mind so that your thoughts are holy? How are you cultivating righteousness in your relationships so that you maintain your integrity? Are you instilling righteousness in your activities so that your life is above reproach? If you want to harvest righteousness in your life tomorrow, you must plant seeds of righteousness today.

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I'm sure I'll be posting quite a few of these as they really touch my heart. The devotional that I read is called 'Experiencing God Day-By-Day' by Henry T. and Richard Blackaby. It was recommended to me by the Chaplain at my husband's base in Mobile, Alabama and so far has proved to be just the thing I need on most days. This particular devotional seemed to really speak to my heart.

I've always been the first to admit that I am not perfect and January 11th's devotional really spoke to what I'm currently struggling with. Namely unforgiveness and enmity. Altough I don't wish to have enemies, as many of us I'm sure like to avoid them, I do have one or two and that really hurts my heart. I regret to say that I've responded to people in ways very much opposite of the way a Christian would respond to a person in the past and it has effected the lives of others. For that I am truly sorry. I have attempted to make amends but to no avail. And because of this, the vicious circle of hatred and hurt and anger continue to this day. I want nothing more from life than peace and the ability to share the joy that I feel with other Christians like myself, and those who are not Christians and need to feel the joy and love that God has given me to offer to them.

One of the most important things about being human is that we are so imperfect. And we need other Christians to help us along the way, to remind us to cultivate righteousness within our lives. We all make mistakes, and we all struggle with something; be it unforgiveness or jealousy, hatred or lust. I think true maturity comes when we can recognize our biggest faults and not only recognize them, but admit them to others and WORK on them.

I have a very big problem with unforgiveness. Some terrible things happened in my marriage recently and I am having immense difficulty forgiving those involved. I've even developed hatred for one of these people, so my biggest current struggle is that. I want to forgive those who hurt me. It is my constant prayer that God supply me with the grace and peace I need to do so.

I know that my enemies will read this blog, so I want to make it a point to again say that I am sorry. I just want to give the best I have in this life. I want to be the best person I can be and I want to cultivate God's righteousness. But I can not do that with hatred and unforgiveness in my heart, if my enemies would forgive me that would make it all the more simple for me to move on and forgive them. But if they do not, I know that God will strengthen me and eventually gift me with the grace I need to forgive them regardless of the state of their hearts.