Qualities of a righteous person

Brothers and sisters, we, human beings, are weak. We are fragile. We fall down in our daily life. Sometimes, it’s a severe fall. Sometimes, it’s a small fall. We commit sins. But the Lord wants us to get up from this sinful life. Each time we fall, the Lord wants us to get up. That is called righteousness. Righteousness doesn’t mean you will never commit sin. Righteousness means when you fall down, you get up immediately. You don’t continue lying down in sin. It is a human tendency to think, “Since I have committed sin, then let me continue in sin for a long time. I will go for confession next year!” There are people who think like this. But that is an evil attitude or a sinner’s attitude. That is against righteousness. A righteous man is a person who upon committing a sin, accepts the sin, and gets up immediately. He doesn’t want to continue in sin even for a second. That’s what makes a person righteous. 

We read in the Word of God, Proverbs 24:15-16 “Do not lie in wait like an outlaw against the home of the righteous, do no violence to the place where the righteous live. For though they fall seven times, they will rise again; but the wicked are overthrown by calamity.”

The righteous people are called righteous not because they never commit sin. They commit sin but they instantly run for confession and get out of it. They don’t want to wear a dress which is always dirty. They want to change it instantly because they want to be holy. There is an inner thirst to be completely holy and a new person. If you have a sincere desire to be holy always and never want to commit sin, then you should want to get up immediately after you fall into sin by mistake or by a human weakness. You should have a strong desire to go for confession instantly and wash yourself completely. That’s a clear sign you are a righteous man or a righteous woman. 

Let’s examine our conscience. Are we really righteous in the presence of God? Are we the people who enjoy committing sin? We want to be holy but the moment we commit sin, we give up and say, “Okay, anyway I have committed sin. Let me wait and see, maybe, next year I will go for a right and true, retreat and confession and start again.” This is how lazy people and the unrighteous think. Although they want to lead a holy life, they postpone their holiness. They postpone getting up from sin. This is not acceptable in front of God. Let us repent of all those sins.