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Welcome to Daily Drive Time Devotions, Proverbs 15-9, the verse that we are
picking out of this chapter says this, "The Lord detests the way of the wicked,
but He loves those who pursue righteousness. " I just want you to notice in the
book of Proverbs that it comes back again and again and again to this subject of
what we pursue in life. He loves those who pursue righteousness.

In this verse, we're to pursue righteousness. Now let me ask a question that I
find many people have in the back of their minds, but they're afraid of voicing
it because it doesn't sound spiritual. It sounds like something we should all
know.

The question is, what in the world is righteousness? I know what it means to be
right. I know what it means to be good, but what does righteousness mean?

It's an important question. When you're not really sure what something is, how
in the world are you going to pursue it? Well, here's a clue.

If you read this whole chapter in Proverbs, you'll see that there's a strong
connection between righteousness and how we talk to others. Verse 28 says, "The
heart of the righteous weighs its answers, but the mouth of the wicked gushes
evil. " Righteousness is a word that focuses not so much on being right or even
thinking right as acting right in my relationships with God and others.

God is righteous towards us because he acts right. He acts with holiness and
righteousness towards us. And righteousness, this chapter provides the insight
that righteousness is seen as much as my words as anywhere.

If I just gush emotional anger or I spew criticism or I get defensive, I wind up
with arguments and hurt feelings and splintered relationships. But if I act
right with my words, I can build bridges. I can build relationships.

What does this pursuit of righteousness look like in our daily lives? It means
that we commit ourselves to make consistent effort to be slow to speak, to give
encouraging words, to be willing to hear the truth about ourselves. Those are
principles that are throughout this chapter.

So let me just say those things again. You'll see it as you read through this
chapter, hopefully later today, or you saw it as you read through it earlier
today. What does it mean to pursue righteousness?

It means that you commit yourself to be consistently making an effort to be slow
to speak, listen before you say something, to consistently give encouraging
words to other people, words that build them up, and to consistently be willing
to hear the truth about yourself. That's what it means to be righteous with your
words. If you're like me, that's a lifetime pursuit.

If you're like me, you need God's strength in that pursuit. Let's pray for it
right now. Jesus, first of all, we want to thank you that because of your love,
we have been made righteous in God's sight, that you acted to give us
forgiveness so that we are seen in an entirely different way by God who loves
us.

We have a whole new relationship, and we pray that because we are righteous, we
would act righteous today, that Jesus Christ, in a practical way, we would act
righteous in the words that we use. First help us not to say things that
shouldn't be said, and then God help us to take the time to say things,
encouraging things that need to be said, not to be so busy that we don't have a
moment to give an encouraging word, and God help us to be willing to and maybe
even to invite the truth about ourselves and to hear it with humility, a
willingness to act on that truth. God, this is about our pride and humility and
our desire sometimes to lift ourselves up rather than you or others, and I pray
right now that you give us a confidence in you that would enable us to drop the
pride that we have with our words and to instead speak humble words of
encouragement and love and grace.

Give us that strength today, that strength in you. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.