23 April 2023
Two-Minute Features | 30 April 2023 | 16 April 2023

The Opposite of Self-Righteousness (TMF:2080)

Friday, April 28, 2023
Peace to Live By: The Opposite of Self-Righteousness (TMF:2080) - Daniel Litton
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       Continuing on in James chapter 3. Verse 13: “Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.” James brings up here meekness. This is the opposite of self-righteousness. What is meekness exactly? We could say meekness is mildness, timidness, or even easygoingness. We are to move away from the temptation then to see ourselves as great because of a recognition of our own humility. In other words, in realizing that we are humble, we can create a prideful attitude in the thought that, “Yes, I am a humble person. Therefore, I am truly great.” Now we have taken pride in our humility.

The Destructiveness of Worthlessness (TMF:2079)

Thursday, April 27, 2023
Peace to Live By: The Destructiveness of Worthlessness (TMF:2079) - Daniel Litton
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       The third thing that would be helpful to surrender is that feeling of worthlessness due to the realization of one’s sin-nature. Remember, we are new creations in Jesus. That being the case, while at one time we were run and controlled by our sin nature and had no power to truly overcome it, now we do have power. However, to some this fact has been lost or forgotten. So, self-righteousness can be used to help a person feel better about themselves. The low self-worth from a person requires them to rely on what they perceive as their correct external behavior after becoming a Christian. They compare themselves with those who do not identify as a Christian, or at least closely as one, and say, “Yes, I am doing better compared to them.” This, however, is a prideful attitude. The belief is that the good works qualify the person to a certain spiritual status and these have to be depended on because of the belief that one is worthless due to having a sin-nature.

The Destructiveness of Severity (TMF:2078)

Wednesday, April 26, 2023
Peace to Live By: The Destructiveness of Severity (TMF:2078) - Daniel Litton
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       What is the second thing that needs to be surrendered in regard to self-righteousness? It’s that uncomfortable vibe, that lack of warmth, the absence of easygoingness. We might call it severity. There are certain churches you can go into and you will immediately feel uncomfortable. Why? Well, there is self-righteousness present; I guarantee you. Wherever you find a lack of comfort among believers you find self-righteousness. It’s an amusing thing, isn’t it, once you come to this realization? It’s amusing until people get hurt. Then it’s not funny anymore. Another identifier of the severity is a lack of communication. So, a lack of comfort and a lack of communication. Self-righteous people don’t communicate. They don’t communicate because they are better than you, have superior knowledge over you, and therefore don’t have to. You’re not worthy of being in on their secret communications. The third thing that would be helpful to surrender is that feeling of worthlessness due to the realization of one’s sin-nature.

The Destructiveness of Self-Righteousness, Part 4 (TMF:2077)

Tuesday, April 25, 2023
Peace to Live By: The Destructiveness of Self-Righteousness, Part 4 (TMF:2077) - Daniel Litton
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       This eagerness to be right is the very thing that brings on the attack. This wantingness blocks the person from actually making them right and instead makes them come out on the other end, the wrong end. And it all stems from a fear of what other people think, a worry over what another will say. When we stop caring what other people think, we speak positive truth which benefits others. Because we haven’t spoken in such a way that forces the truth on others, this allows for people to accept what we say. Even if a person doesn’t accept it, they don’t criticize us because of the way in which we have stated our position. If our attitude is shown from the inner motive of really wanting to help others versus the apparent motive that we just want to be right and win the argument, then people respect what we have to say. We can even take truths from the Bible, take certain positions and what not, and present those positions in a way that is not offensive to others. Anytime we try to force our beliefs on others it will not work. People will naturally resist, even if we are right in what we are saying.

The Destructiveness of Self-Righteousness, Part 3 (TMF:2076)

Monday, April 24, 2023
Peace to Live By: The Destructiveness of Self-Righteousness, Part 3 (TMF:2076) - Daniel Litton
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       So, what is the opposite of self-righteousness? Well, I would say the opposite is love, namely, love of God and love of self. Both of these areas (love of God and love of self) need to be in order if we are going to love others. It’s just the way it is, and a lot of people don’t realize this fact. What, then, has to be surrendered in order to get rid of self-righteousness? First, a person needs to stop caring about what other people think. That is an easy way to identify a self-righteous person, isn’t it? The self-righteous individual is always concerned about being criticized. They try to cover all the bases, to make their argument bulletproof so that on one can successfully attack them. But what happens? This eagerness to be right is the very thing that brings on the attack. This wantingness blocks the person from actually making them right and instead makes them come out on the other end, the wrong end. And it all stems from a fear of what other people think, a worry over what another will say.