Defining righteous

Righteous - Those who honor God and order their lives in all things according to his will. In every human relationship they faithfully fulfill the obligations that the relationship entails, remembering that power and authority (of whatever sort: domestic, social, political, economic, religious, intellectual) are to be used to bless, not to exploit.  Psalm 1: 5 Study Note Editors of the NIV Study Bible c 1985

Today in reading Psalm 15 I came across the word 'righteous' and when I studied a little further to make sure I had a good understanding of what it meant and/or implied I came across today's "quote" (my blog my choice on what I do! ha!).  It was too good, in my opinion, to not share.  And here's the thing.  Maybe you don't believe in God.  That's okay.  Look at what the whole message is and if you don't want to be that kind of person, whether you believe in God or not, then you might want to examine why and what hinders you from being that kind of person!  Because I know people who don't believe in God but want to be ones who bless others.  

Within ourselves and our relationships I think it is true that we have a degree of power and authority. An obvious example would be parenting.  In parenting we have power and authority over the kiddos God has entrusted to us.  When we abuse that power and authority we damage the relationship, when we appropriate it correctly then we keep the relationship healthy and whole.  And please do not mistake appropriate discipline as abuse of power and authority (yes that topic is a whole other blog and a can of worms I don't want to open right now but I still wanted to at least point that out).  Abuse of power and authority is when we lord it over the relationship, when we allow it to be justification for bad behavior, etc.  Appropriate discipline is not that, just sayin'.
Moving on from parenting...the other example that kind of caught my attention was the one of intellect.  I think it caught my eye and attention because I know way too many people who abuse the "power and authority" they have intellectually and damage relationships because of it.  In cases of intellect it usually manifests itself in the way of lording over others and that usually sounds and looks like derision, mocking, patronizing, etc.  They certainly are not blessing those they speak with but rather they exploit the other person's lack of information or knowledge about the topic.  This doesn't do much for having healthy relationships, just sayin'. 

I could easily unpack all the areas mentioned but I won't.  You see where I'm headed with the topic on the whole.  For believers we must be mindful of this part of our spiritual life that God calls us too.  He calls us to be righteous.  Maybe you never really understood what that meant.  Maybe today's quote helped shed some light.  I know it gave me further clarity on the word and how it should be applied in my life.  What about you?