What is Righteousness?
In its original meaning, righteousness meant a right relationship with the covenant of God that led to loving others as oneself and doing good in order to lead others into the same right relationship with God.
Kingdom of God
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Receiving Jesus—Becoming a Follower
We’ve prioritized intellectual doctrine over practical application, turning us into armchair theologians instead of disciples. We become experts at pointing out sin, but struggle to extend the kind of love Jesus modeled.
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Image of God and Loving Your Neighbor
We are created “in the image of God,” reflecting divine qualities like creativity, reason, and moral capacity. This “image” isn’t about physical resemblance but about our inherent value and the responsibility to care for creation. We are given dominion over the earth, not for exploitation, but for wise stewardship and compassionate care.
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Purpose-Driven Relationships
In both personal and business relationships, the goal should be to find partners who share a similar vision and values. This alignment ensures that partners are moving towards the same destination. Jesus emphasized the importance of unity and common purpose in His teachings.
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The Power of Non-Violence
The results of this systematic analysis show that nonviolent resistance is more than twice as effective as violent approaches in achieving intended goals. Based on a large dataset spanning over a century, their study demonstrates that societies experiencing periods of violent conflict, even when successful, tend to suffer from increased social unrest and instability in the aftermath.
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Test Everything – Hold to the Good
By centering our discernment on God as revealed through Christ, we gain a deeper and more personal understanding of what it means to test everything and hold fast to what is good. Does it align with God’s character, his promises, and his commands? Jesus is the perfect image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15) and the clearest expression of God’s love, grace, and mercy.
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The Elusive Pursuit of Contentment
Harvey Deutschendorf shares how intimate, trusting relationships where one can openly share hopes, fears, and experiences are particularly valuable. Building strong connections involves actions like listening, being supportive, keeping commitments, and showing genuine interest in others’ lives. Overall, investing time and energy into meaningful relationships appears to be more rewarding than pursuing material wealth when it comes to finding contentment and joy in life.
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Confronting Sin by Embracing Humility
The purpose of emphasizing a broader understanding of sin is not to condemn or overwhelm us with guilt. It’s to remind us we all need God’s grace and a humble heart. Sin is like a disease that affects our hearts and minds, distorting our perceptions and hindering our ability to love others as God loves us.
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Evangelism and the Gospel
If God is genuinely transforming our lives, if our values and actions are shifting because of our faith, shouldn’t that be something worth talking about? I’m not talking about those awkward door-to-door pairs in matching outfits, forcefully shoving their beliefs down your throat (yeah, that’s a hard pass).
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Transformational Faith Leads to Works
In essence, faith or belief should lead to transformation through a process. Our value systems, which in turn govern our behavioral systems, should undergo continuous and ongoing transformation, albeit this does not imply that everything changes instantaneously. If a belief is truly genuine, it cannot stay dormant in our mind but must emerge as part of what we believe.
