A Spiritual Person

It has been said that he who has the most need of righteousness wants it least. Some would excuse that and say that maybe they are not aware of the need. But if we really cut to the chase and get real, I think that true Christians are always aware of the need for righteousness. The question is, do we pursue it? If you think, "I am really doing well, and I don't really know that I need more righteousness", then you are in greater need than you realize.

The great apostle Paul, after years of walking with the Lord, said, "I don't mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me" (Philippians 3:12).

A real mark of a spiritual person is they are always hungry and thirsty for more and more and more of God. But there are certain things that spoil our appetite. Sometimes we feed on spiritual junk food and diminish our spiritual appetites. Health, wealth, and prosperity teaching, seeking a man-centered theology that asks, "What can God do for me?" instead of "What can I do for God?" can fill you up...but it's a bad thing to feast on. It's not healthy. In the end it will leave you hungry...and hungry for more junk food (i.e. false teaching). Careful what you consume because you are what you eat spiritually (I know this because I've even in this church). Some things just take the edge off our appetite for the true things of God.

So periodically we need to ask ourselves a question: Is this thing I am engaged in—this relationship, this pursuit, this activity—making me more or less hungry for spiritual things? Does it draw me closer to God, or does it in some way keep me away from Him more? Is it a turbo booster or a weight in the race of life? Does it speed me on my way, or does it slow me down?

Hebrews 12:1 tells us, "Let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us." If you are really hungry and thirsty for righteousness, you will find it. Because if you really want something, then you will put yourself in that place where you will get it. Pray and ask God to help you hunger and thirst and go after what He wants for you. Matthew 5:6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled."