Inspiration of the Day - Fruit of Righteousness
- Tony
- May 25, 2020
- 3 min read
Updated: May 30, 2020
"…we will find peace according to the measure of our
contentment behind doing the right thing."
As a child, I got "spanked" a lot! Cause and effect. After a while, getting "corrected" for the same thing over, and over again eventually got me to identify the cause. The effect was pretty obvious. At some point, my brain started to connect my actions to the consequences. As unfair as some of those situations may have been, I made changes to my behavior. I was conditioned to be watchful of the behavior that led to the undesirable outcome - spankings. At some point, my not getting spanked brought about peace, although earned in a cruel way. It boiled down to the decisions made, but more importantly; the heart's response to the disciplining. Am I making good choices for the right reasons?
"Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it." Hebrews 12:11 (NKJV)
As human beings, we condition our way of thinking in good ways and sometimes bad in order to avoid the pain of the consequences of our decisions. Meaning, if you don't go in the negative direction becoming bitter, holding grudges, or worse, despising those that are in authority over us that correct us, having your mind stay positive moves your character to produce goodness. The hard part is not becoming negative from the disciplining to begin with. Keep in mind that every interaction with someone, no matter how trivial, is a form of discipline. (Proverbs 27:17)
The process of being disciplined ultimately results in making good decisions. Responding to correction and making a good choice may be considered a "righteous act". However, doing the right thing may not bring peace. The measure of peace comes from the level of contentment you have before, during and after you've done the right thing, or behave the right way in God's eyes. (1 Timothy 6:6) Some of us do the right things grudgingly, unwillingly, knowing it’s the right thing to do, but still hold on to bitterness, keep score of things done wrong to us. (2 Corinthians 9:7; Hebrews 4:12) On the surface we seem to forgive, but just can't forget.
"Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live?" Hebrews 12:9 NKJV
God the Father is and will always be our Father. He must correct His children. If some of us are still fortunate as adults to have our parents, we may not put value in being corrected by them today. We value their input or criticism as mere opinions at best. We claim we are adults and ultimately make our own decisions. So the idea of submitting ourselves as “children” to an invisible God breaks against our carnal mind’s current way of thinking. (Romans 8:7)
Let's be fair…we are quick to see those in our past who taught and corrected us as teachers, mentors and guides. We remember them with fondness and respect. How much more so our God and Father? Yet, when we are corrected by God, shouldn't we look to Him as a loving but "strict" Father, higher than any teacher, mentor, guide, or even an earthly parent? Don't forget no matter how old you are, you are still a baby in His eyes. (Revelations 21:7) He wants us to not only obey, but to be happy doing so - also known as contentment.
Let us humble ourselves before the goodness of God and His throne. (Psalm 34:18) The peace found in the righteousness of God and eventually finding contentment starts with studying scripture and memorizing God's Word. As we are being corrected and disciplined by God the Father learning to obey His Word stored in our hearts (Psalm 119:11), we will find peace according to the measure of our contentment behind doing the right thing.
God bless you in Christ Jesus the Lord, always.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Links to verses provided by BibleGateway.com
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