THE BENEFITS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

DEVOTIONAL 07/21/2026

Isaiah 32

17 And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.

Throughout the course of our lives, there will be many situations that test our faith and tempt us to resort to compromise the word of God and his standard. There will be times we just want an easy way out by lying or accepting traditions of men rather than God’s. Indeed, doing that is a quick solution but it will result in lingering thoughts, regrets, and guilt. When we decide to serve God and try to be right with God, the attacks will be actually more severe. The situations appear to be even more impossible to resist temptations. However, this verse encourages us to stay true with the character of God.  We have to look at the big and final picture of our souls. After all the good fights we overcome, righteousness and the labor for righteousness will lead to peace, quietness, and assurance as the verse points out. Maintaining righteousness is challenging. However, if we do not wrong anybody and if we please God, we do not have to regret. We will achieve peace even on this earth and forever more.

In the next chapter, God lays down some examples of righteousness.

Isaiah 33

15 He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil;

16 He shall dwell on high: his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.

Even a way of walking can be unrighteous. We must examine ourselves. Do the ways we walk convey something bad? Do we walk to draw attention, for example? Do we speak truly or deceitfully?

As in Isaiah 33: 15, God also hates people who use unrighteous means for gain such as by oppressing other people. God also does not approve of bribery. God guides us to avoid hearing and joining discussions and plans to harm others. God teaches us to guard or close our eyes from evil things. This advice is practical because our days are filled with constant images of filthiness and vileness. When encountering such sinful sights, we must turn away or turn it off because they will make us fall eventually. We must consciously choose to be influenced by God, and not the world.

Sam Christian

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Acknowledgements

Vocabulary and grammar checks were done with the help of //www.collinsdictionary.com/us, Microsoft Word, and Google Docs.

The Bible used is the King James Version by Christian Art Publishers, PO Box 1599, Vereeniging, 1930, RSA (King James Version Bible Large Print Thinline Edition, 2016).