Most of the people that I know (including myself) who have an air of righteousness about them have a hard edge to them. When pressed I have sometimes caught myself being so concerned about doing the right thing that I forget about how I’m showing up. The other people involved don’t matter, or I assume they’re already bought into the process, so long as the right thing happens. But a spirit of righteousness and being filled with righteousness just might be two different things.

A spirit of righteousness is personal power that is directed towards righteous action. It is our strength. We are the ones trying – to get ourselves and others to organize in a good way. Being filled with righteousness is having our character reformed by a filling of someone else’s righteousness. It is not our strength. It is a gift, simple, present, and unassuming. Instead of the spirit of righteousness aiming towards particular ends, our entire person is filled with righteousness. All our thinking is pervaded with righteousness. We are not trying anymore. We are filled with it.

How do we get there? Of course we have to want it. We have to want righteousness. We have to hunger and thirst. We have to be willing to sit with that feeling for a while. We have to wait. Filling doesn’t happen through manipulation. It is a gift. The questions we’re asking today are meant to guide us indirectly towards that gift.