Jesus, in Matthew 5:6, portrays a deep, driving need within a person to hunger and thirst after righteousness, a desire that stems from the very core of one's being. This hunger and thirst for righteousness are essential steps toward salvation, involving processes like justification, sanctification, growing, and becoming perfect in God's image. God's will is for us to prepare to live with Him as He lives in His Kingdom, and He enables us to have this desire, though we must choose to sacrifice ourselves to fulfill His purpose for us. Righteousness, as Jesus commands in Matthew 6:33, involves seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, prioritizing it above all else in life. This seeking is not merely an ambitious yearning but a fundamental necessity, akin to the hunger-and-thirst metaphor, placing God's spiritual blessings, favor, and image at the forefront of our existence. The world may not prioritize righteousness, but it is our responsibility to pursue what God has graciously made available to us. There are three kinds of righteousness within the scope of Jesus' words, all vital to Christian life and development. The first is the righteousness of faith, granted when God justifies a sinner by grace through Christ's redemption, imputing Christ's obedience to provide legal righteousness before God. Despite our past sins and blindness, God's calling removes the veil from our minds, revealing His purpose and standards, leading us to see our spiritual bankruptcy and hunger for His offer of justification. However, this hunger and thirst persist even after justification, as the justified person recognizes that God has only begun a good work in us. We must continuously strive to keep our relationship with Him vibrant through communication and obedience, filling our minds with His character and purpose to maintain a sharp edge on our hunger for righteousness. The third kind of righteousness, social righteousness, extends beyond personal relationship with God to include a desire for righteousness in the community. It encompasses civil rights, justice, integrity in business, and honor in family, reflecting a yearning to let our light shine before men so they may glorify our Father in heaven. Though our citizenship is in heaven, and we are sojourners in this world, we must still do good as we have opportunity, representing our Savior within the framework of our role in His body. Finally, this hunger and thirst for righteousness come with a promise. When God creates this need in us to know Him and be like Him, it is to draw us to Him and fill us with what He is. He fills us with understanding, wisdom, peace, thanksgiving, faith, hope, and love, enabling us to negotiate our pilgrimage to His Kingdom and ultimately be done with sin forever.

Righteousness is the key to peace, whether it be world peace, peace with neighbors, or peace within families. It is essential for obtaining good, respectful, and obedient children, as these are blessings from God. None of this can happen without personal righteousness on our part. Righteousness encompasses our actions, words, morals, and virtues. It is what we do, living by every word of God and keeping His commandments correctly. This is what we should strive for every day, all day long. Obtaining righteous character is crucial for all firstfruits. There will be no unrighteous people in the Kingdom of God. We must constantly be aware of our actions, words, thoughts, and overall conduct, always trying to give God the honor and glory He deserves by working on being righteous. God blesses righteousness, but He does not bless unrighteousness. Obedience is righteousness, and to whom much is given, much is expected. God wants us to make changes in our lives and become righteous when we are doing wrong, to repent and strive for righteousness. Righteous acts, such as daily prayer, love, and service to the brethren, are blessed by God. He blesses a mouth and tongue that speak with wisdom and judgment, righteous thoughts, Bible study, proper Sabbath keeping, treating people rightly in positions of authority, keeping the commandments, righteous judgment, confessing sins to Him, repentance, pleading the cause of the poor and needy, living soberly, paying tithes, and deleavening our homes correctly. To please God, we must work on becoming righteous like Christ, knowing what righteousness is through reading and studying His Word. Just coming to church and knowing righteousness is not enough; we must do what is righteous all the time.

The pursuit of righteousness is a vital aspect of a believer's journey, requiring deep conviction and practical application in daily life. Righteousness, as a transformative process, begins with a judicial act where, upon repentance, God imputes the righteousness of Jesus Christ to the believer, clearing the debt of sin through divine grace and faith in Christ as Savior. This imputed righteousness allows one to draw near to God and strive toward perfection. Beyond this initial act, righteousness becomes real through the experience of obedience, as one actively maintains it by following God's way of living. This demands a firm conviction in the vision of where life is headed and why these efforts are made. Believers must be convicted that the Kingdom of God lies ahead and that they are being shaped into the image of God, which fuels the obligation to Christ and the necessity of sacrifice. Conviction of righteousness, alongside conviction of sin and judgment, must carry not only mental agreement but also a psychological motivation that impacts the heart. This conviction is nurtured through a close relationship with God, involving prayer, study, meditation, and diligent application. It arises from being open-minded and humbled before His Word, constantly evaluating one's actions against His standards, and seeking ways to do what is right. Without dedicating quality time to know God, true conviction and the love that drives one to please Him cannot fully develop.