grace flows down

Unfolding Righteousness

"The [Christian] life is a day-by-day unfolding of the joyful, strengthening life and freedom found in the love of God. It is a continual unfolding of a new and splendid righteousness that marks our being."*

I received excellent advice once. He said, "You don't need to go out and change who you are to be better. You just need to be more of who you already are."

The Bible tells us too, that God has "given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue." 2 Peter 1:3

We don't need to be something or someone other than who God made us to be. Righteousness is ours and we already have it. We just need to see more of it.

I work in housewares retail. One of the most annoying thing customers do is take the tablecloths off their hangers. They crumple them up, can't refold them correctly... all because they need to see the whole pattern to discern if it's something they want to buy. These tablecloths are beautiful. The colors are vivid and the fabrics often lush (and expensive). They're also really big and difficult to fold properly.

Our righteousness is like a tablecloth. We already have the colors and patterns we need to make us beautiful. The beauty doesn't fade or change - the whole thing is beautiful, from end to end. Sometimes though, we only are only showing a little part of our tablecloth. We need to be unfolding and exposing our righteousness more and more.

A tablecloth serves no purpose folded up and in a closet. It needs to be displayed 100% with no wrinkles.

*Rich Ganz, Free Indeed, page 91.

posted by Shannon Koons @ 11:50 AM