Practicing Righteousness

This is Slothy. He is my son’s baby. 

If you know my son, you can see the irony in this sloth being his baby. 😂

My son has never done anything in slow motion! A young chimpanzee may have been a better stuffed animal for him to love. He’s my wild child, he climbs and hangs on all things, he breaks most things that he touches. He’s unbelievably curious and more impulsive than anyone you’ve ever met.

Sometimes I’m so busy chasing him and correcting him, that I forget to tell him how proud he makes me.

And our kids need to know how proud we are of them, and how blessed we are for them to be ours. They need to know that we notice them when they’re acting up as much as we notice them when they’re doing amazing things!

He dressed Slothy this morning and rocked him to sleep, y’all. How precious, right?? Some days he practices being gentle with Slothy to help himself learn to be more gentle with his baby sister, and that melts my heart. He does that on his own, and that makes me so proud. I need to do a better job making sure he knows I see him practicing good habits and gentleness.

A couple of years ago I memorized part of 1 John 2&3 with a student. Here’s a little piece of what we memorized:

“If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him. See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.” 1 John 2:29-3:1a

Watching my kid practice gentleness this morning reminded me of this passage.

We are God’s children, y’all. How much time do we spend practicing righteousness? Practicing loving Him? Practicing actions and words and thoughts that show Him how grateful we are for His sacrifice? When we do these things our Father is glorified and pleased with the work his Spirit is accomplishing in our sanctification.

This is why I created Everyday Mercies… so that I would have a tangible tool to help me practice righteousness.

What does that look like?

Memorizing scripture, practicing it daily. Being in His Word, forming habits that honor Him and grow my understanding of Him. Being in daily prayer and praise over my family and friends. Loving and investing in others, practicing active listening when they share their hearts. Planning and practicing giving, both financially and in service.

I don’t believe in picking something up and becoming an instant all-star. I believe in practice and forming habits. The more my son practices gentleness, the more gentle he will become. And the more I practice righteousness, the more like Jesus I will become.

Christians, Jesus loves us, we know this. His Word tells us this very clearly. His Word also tells us that our faith is dead without works… (James 2:14-17) Why? Because when we live in a way that doesn’t show the world our love and gratitude for what Jesus did for us on the cross, our lives look a lot like the lives of non-Christians, and our faith looks faithless. When we’re not in the Word, regularly practicing living like Jesus, we’re not growing. That’s why it matters. That’s why when we are children of God, we practice righteousness.

What are some ways you’re practicing righteousness? How do you see your kids practicing living like Jesus?