Growing up, I was always “the good little girl.” My innate nature was to be obedient and do the right thing. Even when my siblings engaged in “mischief,” I would not get involved.
Then, my family was ripped apart. My father, the one I would always turn to in all things, left us! His abandonment devastated me! The rejection at such a young age profoundly altered who I was and what I would become. It was the first of some horrendous abuses and injustices over two decades. With each trauma, I would react and rebel for a short while, but then I would revert back to that person who always wanted to be good and do the right thing.
So when I got saved, I still erroneously thought that being a good person meant that I was a good candidate for the kingdom. I had experienced unjust treatment, but the final straw was the abuse of me, my children and my unborn child by my former husband. So, when I cried out to God in my emptiness and pain, he answered me and I received salvation.
Receiving salvation set me on the right path, but my soul needed sanctification. I still believed in that my good person persona qualified me to be a better candidate for the kingdom than some of the “other” people. I would cry out, “Why God did you let all these horrible things happen to me in my life? I have always tried to be a good.” At that early stage in my Christian walk, I could see the transgressions of other people, but I failed to understand that, “There is no one righteous, not even one; . . .” (Romans 3:10) I fail to realize at that time that, “. . . all our (my) righteousness are as filthy rags. . .” (Isaiah 64:6) I fail to realize that I could not be saved by my own works, nor could my soulish goodness count for anything!
I had a self-righteous spirit which is an abomination! Self righteousness is trusting in one’s own morals, achievements and efforts rather than depending on the redemptive work of Christ to bring salvation. It is the belief that good works will meet God’s standards. It is legally and religiously adhering to laws, traditions and religious tenets through self merit without the power of the Holy Spirit. It often exhibits itself as a prideful contempt for others who are deemed as “sinners.”
In the Bible, the Pharisees were a self-righteous Jewish sect who adhered strictly to Jewish traditions and the works of the laws without the power of Holy Spirit. They saw themselves as righteous and were contemptuous of others. In the parable in Luke 18:10-13, Jesus portrays two men who go into the temple to pray—one was a Pharisee and one was a publican (a tax collector). Verses 11 and 12 note that the Pharisee prayed: “ . . . God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.”
The Pharisee’s righteousness was of the law, fleshly and from an unregenerated soul. True righteousness is not of the flesh; it is the acceptance by faith of Jesus, the sacrificial lamb, who shed his blood on the cross for our sins.
Now, the publican in the parable in Luke 18:10-13 was different. Verse 13 notes that while the Pharisee boasted, the publican stood far off, smote himself and would not lift his eyes to heaven as he said, “. . . God be merciful to me a sinner.”
Here is what Jesus had to say about these two men in verse 14. “I tell you, this man (the publican) went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
When I look back over that time, I think, “How could I have stood before the Almighty God with that self-righteous pride! Today, my friends, I stand before our God with a contrite heart as the publican did! I humbly thank God for sending his Son, Jesus because he didn’t have to do it! I humbly thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ for dying on that cross for my sins because he didn’t have to do it!
Be blessed.
Spiritual References
Proverbs 30:12 There are those who are clean in their own ryes but are not washed of their filth.
Isaiah 64:6 We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.
Romans 10:3 For being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.
Ephesians 2:8-9 for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourself; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.
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