WHY is it so HARD to be RIGHTEOUS?

[lostwithoutu]

Just a rhetorical question but seriously. It seems to me the closer I get to God the more I screw up trying to live under the His will.

Is it just me or does the enemy attack you where you are the weakest to drive you away from God?

Please help.

 

[probinson]

The moment you accept Jesus, righteousness is imputed to you. You can't earn it, and you don't become "more" or "less" righteous based on your actions.

There's a lyric in the song, "Who Am I?" by Casting crowns that sums it up pretty well;

Not because of who I am,
But because of what You've done
Not because of what I've done
But because of who You are
​

That is why you are righteous, because of what He has done for you.

 

[Eila]

Just a rhetorical question but seriously. It seems to me the closer I get to God the more I screw up trying to live under the His will.

Is it just me or does the enemy attack you where you are the weakest to drive you away from God?

Please help.

lostwithoutu,

If you have accepted Jesus as your Savior you are already righteous. His righteousness is a gift to you because He loves you. When the Father looks at you He sees the perfect Jesus. Don't let the devil convince you otherwise.

We do mess-up and sin, but that sin does not impact Jesus' righteousness. It is His righteousness that we rely on - not ours. We are dead to sin and alive to God. Sin no longer has any power over us. Granted, we do still sin, but if you will grasp ahold of the understanding that you have His right-standing and the power of sin in your life is dead I think you will find the battle is not so difficult.

Rest in Him and His righteousness. When you mess up come to Him and soak yourself in His love and grace. By beholding and understanding Him we become changed.

 

[lostwithoutu]

It just seems to me that the more I seek God the more trials and tribulations I must go through. Frustrating sometimes.

 

[Hisgirl]

Lostwithoutu, bless you for wanting to look like your Daddy in your actions! Obedience grows out of intimacy. The more time you spend with God, the more you'll grow close to Him. You have the spirit of Christ in you and are already 'spiritually' righteous because of the righteousness of Jesus. He perfected you forever....although your mind/soul is being sanctified through renewal.

Hebrews 10 12 But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, 13 from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. 14 For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.
15 But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before,
16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,” 17 then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.


God is rejoicing that you are in His family and is calling you to your purpose and into the steps He has layed out for you. And yes, the enemy will try and make us stumble. But God is still calling you and intends to use you.

If your focus is on your failures and stumbles and mistakes then that will be where you invest your time, your energy and your sight. You see, the enemy wants your attention.

The more you surround yourself with like minded folks, the easier this process becomes. Find some folks you can fellowship with who aren't drinking and partying.

Get yourself some good worship music that you truly enjoy....read some Psalms out loud to the Lord and talk to Him as if you can see Him sitting next to you.

Find a family you can help this summer. Give from your heart and take the focus away from yourself. God said He remembers your sins no more (Isaiah 43)...I would recommend you investing your focus somewhere else.

And...if you haven't had someone lay hands on you for the Baptism of the Holy Spirit (the filling, the stirring up of the gifts)...seek that encounter with God. It's transforming.

None of these things will make you more righteous...your righteousness comes from Christ Jesus and you can't add to that. But it sure will make you happier!

 

[JimB]

There is a righteousness of the law – legalism.

9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, Phil. 3
​

And there is an imputed (accredited) righteousness, the righteouness of Christ, that comes by faith.

23 Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, 24 but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25 who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification. Rom. 4
​

Trying to do righteous deeds through our own legalistic efforts is impossible – the Law taught us that.

Just trusting God, knowing you are justified by grace through faith, produces Christ’s righteousness in you. The just live by faith, not by righteous deeds.

~Jim

A good scare is worth more than good advice.​

 

[lostwithoutu]

Hisgirl,

How did you know my friends drink and party? I've been having difficulty with this. I don't have a lot of Christian friends at ALL, only the ones at church and they are either too young or married. No one to really hang out with. :-(

 

[Hisgirl]

Sorry about that...it kinda just fell out while I was typing... God likes to show us where to pray, I think.

It may seem like you're boxed in when those around you are all married or too young....but you are actually surrounded by potential friends. The guys in their twenties would appreciate getting to know an older, wiser man and the guys in their forties are just looking for an excuse to get out of the house and shoot some hoops or attend a car/bike show.

There are MEGA opportunities where you live. Check out Andy Stanley's 722 meetings on Tuesday nights. http://www.722.org/flash/722.html It's an inter-denominational singles meeting on the northside of Atlanta. It's huge, the music will blow you away.

Join a men's softball team. Check out the men's ministry at the Atlanta Vineyard. It's huge and near your church. http://atlantavineyard.com/men/index.html

Call John Crowder's ministry http://www.thenewmystics.org/ They go out in groups to Atlanta parks and Little Five points to do street ministry. Most of these folks are your age group.

Just some ideas to get the ball rolling...

 

[JimfromOhio]

Its hard because we are so focused on works more than grace.

 

[millerrod]

Because Adam and Eve errored !!

 

[lostwithoutu]

Sorry about that...it kinda just fell out while I was typing... God likes to show us where to pray, I think.

It may seem like you're boxed in when those around you are all married or too young....but you are actually surrounded by potential friends. The guys in their twenties would appreciate getting to know an older, wiser man and the guys in their forties are just looking for an excuse to get out of the house and shoot some hoops or attend a car/bike show.

There are MEGA opportunities where you live. Check out Andy Stanley's 722 meetings on Tuesday nights. http://www.722.org/flash/722.html It's an inter-denominational singles meeting on the northside of Atlanta. It's huge, the music will blow you away.

Join a men's softball team. Check out the men's ministry at the Atlanta Vineyard. It's huge and near your church. http://atlantavineyard.com/men/index.html

Call John Crowder's ministry http://www.thenewmystics.org/ They go out in groups to Atlanta parks and Little Five points to do street ministry. Most of these folks are your age group.

Just some ideas to get the ball rolling...

Awesome! Thanks for the links. Checking now.

 

[TheGloryisHere]

The question you're asking is, "Why is it so hard to be holy?" HisGirl gave you some wonderful advice.

Creflo Dollars' Church "Changing Your World" is also in Atlanta. I watch it on the internet. Here's the link to his website.

http://www.creflodollarministries.org/index.html

 

[JimfromOhio]

Jesus is the Great Deliverer, through whom I have victory over sin, death and hell. In Christ I have all the power I will ever need. God's promise is great, but it is as great as we experience spiritual growth from God's perspectives by cultivating the knowledge of God while at the same time cultivate our faith. As we are training for our spiritual growth, we look NOT AT our faith but in Christ of WHO we have faith in, who is THE author and finisher. Christ was the perfect example of the healthy normal man, He did not live a normal life. By His grace God can make us what He wants us to be. Our task is to faithfully pursue His standards. I have learned and realized that Christ in me does not mean that I am no longer without sin. My old sinful nature is not ripped out from my heart. Christ is in my heart and with the help from the Holy Spirit, Christ changing me from the inside and lives through me. So the answer is YES....if a Christian is not careful and forget.

A disciple must understand that God is both holy and loving; that I am a sinner, are made in the image of God; that Christ's death was the substitute payment for my sin; and that because of Jesus' payment, I am granted access to the heart of God. We are free from the chains of sin because by grace we are saved by Christ that we are forgiven. Grace is we live in the Spirit AND also walk in the Spirit. The Holy Spirit dwells in us with all the power and gifts of God, necessary to enable us to walk the noble, spiritual, Son-like life with God. We all have to come to the understanding that while God wants us to be Spirit-filled that God's loving desire that we should reflect His own holiness and goodness.

 

[jrlinz]

It's really easy. Not that I never mess up, I do. But, I let God tell me how to handle it from there. That's all there is to it. If I get mad and swear at work (a hazard of working on steel, at altitude, alone, for so many years, in all kinds of weather), and people hear me, I say "God, how can I be so self-centered and evil? What should I do now?" He says to ask them for forgiveness, I do, and they think I am nutty, but God doesn't. The next morning, I ask God to help me be a good influence, to control my soulishness, and He does, or I do it again. The trick is to be earnest, sincere, but relaxed and secure in God's love. One thing that helped me a lot: I used to volunteer at a local mission. They gave the poor food, clothing and shelter. It was a great place, lots of fun. Not stuffy at all. All the workers were pretty much required to go up into the hill country, to a place called "His hill", every Tuesday morning at 4:30 and pray communally. until sunrise. We talked openly about our shortcomings, and prayed for each other. These were honest, honorable, trustworthy men. It helps more than many would guess.

 

[lostwithoutu]

jrlinz, you mentioned being relaxed and secure in God's love. That hits home because I think I might be too hard on myself. I want to be like him so badly I feel like a giant failure when I stumble.

TheGloryisHere,

You're absolutley right, I should asked why is it so hard to be a good Christian or Holy as opposed to righteous. I'm glad I asked though becuase I never knew when I accpted Christ into my life that I was righteous from that moment forward.

I really appreciate everyone's reponses. This thread has been very uplifting to me today. I went from feeling awful about not doing right in the eyes of the Lord to actually feeling forgiven.

 

[Criada]

Just a rhetorical question but seriously. It seems to me the closer I get to God the more I screw up trying to live under the His will.

Is it just me or does the enemy attack you where you are the weakest to drive you away from God?

Please help.

You've had some great replies here!
I just wanted to add one thing.
For the last few months, God has been drawing me closer to Him.
After a few weeks, I was in despair - I seemed to be stumbling so much more than ever before.
BUT, through His word and wise friends, God showed me that that wasn't true.
As I draw closer to His incredinle glory and holiness, as I live my life more and more in awareness of His presence, so I become more sensitive to the things He wants to change in me.
Put simply, I notice my sin more - He highlights it so that He can deal with it!
So now, when some other nasty part of me comes crawling out of the woodwork, I thank Him for showing me, and give it to Him.
Sometimes it hurts!
But He is faithful - He has begun a good work in me, and He wll bring it to completion!
Praise Him for His patience.

 

[lismore]

The moment you accept Jesus, righteousness is imputed to you. You can't earn it, and you don't become "more" or "less" righteous based on your actions.

Thats true

Psalm 23:3 says:

3 he restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake.

He guides us in the paths of righteousness. Righteousness is not our work, it is God's work in us and his gift to us. Salvation is not our work, it is God's salvation given to us as a gift.

 

[lismore]

Just a rhetorical question but seriously. It seems to me the closer I get to God the more I screw up trying to live under the His will.
.

You are already Holy. You have been washed and sanctified by the blood of Jesus. God made he who had no sin to become sin for you so that in him you become the righteousness of God. You are a new creation in Christ, a child of God, accepted in his family.

Just be yourself. You are a child of God and a new creation. You are not the old person anymore.

 

[charityagape]

nm

 

[jrlinz]

nm

Ditto