The Enemy of Righteousness

A friend and I met for coffee a few days ago and our conversation went down a path I haven’t been able to shake. We started talking about how women and teen girls are constantly searching… searching for fulfillment… searching for improvement… searching for the next best thing… searching for goodness. Seemingly related, there have been a lot of events pop up lately focused on self-improvement, self-worth, and self-confidence. The term, “You do you, Boo!” is on fire these days. Our society has become obsessed with approval, looking good, feeling worthy, and the pursuit of self-help.

An article written in December of 2022 focused on some statistics about self-help books. Here are a few I found interesting:

• The self-help book category is one of the fastest-growing nonfiction categories.

• With an estimated 15,000 self-help books published in the United States each year, the self-help genre continues to grow.

• In 2021 sales jumped 19.3%, and unit sales were also up by nearly 25% compared to 2020. For the first time in history, sales hit 17.1 million in the first week of January.

I truly believe the authors of these books and founders of these empowerment events mean well. They have a passion to help people and to give back. They are driven to offer answers to a society that is desperately seeking. But I’m afraid they’re missing a big piece. There’s a misconception hidden in these pursuits of help and improvement: The focus in all of these is SELF.

How many times have you tried to handle things on your own, only to end up back where you started? Do you ever feel like you’re in a vicious cycle where you try your very best to get ahead, only to feel worse off than when you started? I’m doing Jennifer Rothschild’s Psalm 23 Bible Study right now, and she wrote about this very thing. She asked her readers to draw a picture of a two person bike and label a seat for Jesus and a seat for the reader. Then she wrote this:

Where are you sitting? I don’t have to see your picture to know that you probably put yourself on the back of the bike because we good, Christian girls know that our assigned seat is in the back. But be honest. In realtity, are you on the front of the bike, in charge and pedalling hard to get to that green pasture (place of our desires) so you can rest?

Umm… how does she know me so well? She went on to write, “Or perhaps you’re in the right place but with the wrong heart. You’re seated on the back of the bike, but constantly shouting directions to your Shepherd and calling it prayer.” Yep- me again!

My word for this year is contentment. Yet, I’ve battled discontentment more than I care to publicize. The stresses of life and a few minor health issues have gotten me all flustered. So unfortunately, I can relate all too well to this picture Jennifer is painting in her book- the one where I’m trying to tell Jesus how this journey called life should really play out. No wonder I’ve been failing to find contentment. I’m too busy trying to figure it all out on my own.

It’s funny to think about the many ways God uses to get our attention. Not only did He lay the word contentment on my heart for this year, not only has He led me to Jennifer’s Psalm 23 Bible Study, not only did He give me the opportunity to have coffee with my dear friend and talk about the value of depending on the Lord, but I just started listening to an incredible book by Ruth Chou Simons called When Strivings Cease. The book is all about how we strive to do it all… on our own. These blog posts I write don’t come from a place of judgement or expertise. They come from personal lack and realization. Too often, I try to do it all on my

own.

Can you relate? We don’t need to read another self-help book or attend a conference on self-empowerment. We don’t need to be told, “You do you!” We need to fall on our face, surrender, and realize our need for our Savior. Are you under a lot of stress? Facing a difficult situation? Battling some health challenges? I have good news. You are perfectly positioned to see God work in amazing, surprising, abundant ways.

Have you ever watched your kids try to figure something out, knowing you have the answer? Knowing there’s an easier way, but waiting for them to figure it out “the hard way”? Sometimes it’s comical, right? Especially when they were toddlers and tried every which way except the right way. I wonder if this is how God watches us. He has the answer. He knows what’s best. He sees the big picture. But we try every other way first before just coming to Him and asking for help.

Our SELF-determination, SELF-esteem, SELF-assurance, and SELF-confidence are feeding into our SELF-righteousness. The enemy of true righteousness is the focus on self. Instead of chasing empowerment through ourselves, we should be chasing after our Father and His righteousness. Every bit of our goodness comes from Him. Everything we accomplish is because of Him. His plans for us are good… they’re literally the best! But so many times, we’re like Pac-Man who can’t find his way out of the maze. The way out is The Way… The Truth… The Life. The Way out is to surrender to God and His plan, His provision, and His righteousness. Psalm 23:3 says,

“He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.”

Friends, some of us need some good ‘ole soul restoration! We need to be led in the paths of righteousness. I find it interesting that this verse references paths- not path in the singular form. Think of how many choices you make in a day. Think of each choice as a path. When you come to a place where you need to make a decision, you can choose the righteous path (the one that aligns with God’s character and His will) or the unrighteous path that leads to sin.

If you, like me, have been trying to be a little Ms. (or Mr.) Independent, I do have some Good News for us. It comes from 1 John 1:9:

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Some of us have some confessing and some cleansing that needs to happen. And then we need to Pac-Man our way out of the maze full of self-stuff and right into the paths of righteousness.