I heard the word “righteous” a lot as a child.

In church, it would be attributed to God in the sense that He is a “righteous” God. Books would describe people fighting for a “righteous” cause, but I never gave the word much thought beyond that.

It wasn’t until I grew older that I started to understand what righteousness really meant.

I’m still no expert, but if we break it down, the English understanding of the word “righteous” comes from the Old English word “rihtwīs” which just meant “right” or a way of acting “rightly.”

The dictionary defines it as “the quality of being morally right or justifiable.” Synonyms include: goodness, virtue, uprightness, decency, and integrity. I think the world would be a better place if we all behaved with those attributes in mind.

There’s something else about those synonyms of righteousness though; they sound a lot like the fruits of the Holy Spirit.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23 KJV).

It makes sense that, since God is described as being a righteous God, His Spirit would cultivate in us the fruits of righteousness. Let us thank God for His righteousness, and His Holy Spirit today.