Have you ever wondered.....

- How you can bacome righteous?

- If following the rules is good enough for God?

Read: Romans 3:19-26; 1 John 2:1-2; Provebs 2:7-8

Try to think of someone who was righteous, someone who never did anything wrong. Mother Teresa? No. The Apostle Paul? Hardly. The Pope, Joan of Arc or John the Baptist? None of these characters were righteous of their own accord, and neither are you. There's nothing you can do to make up for your foul behavior.

Sin stinks, and God hates it. Face it: Flowers won't appease him, Gifts and apology cards won't cut it. The grander tributes - an afternoon serving at the city mission, a fat check in the offering plate- won't make you look any better or any more righteous. We always want to do what is right, but somehow, it just doesn't happen.

God's not surprised. Reading Romans chapter three may help you breathe a little easier. Deeds aren't the way to righteousness - Jesus is. He frees you from your sin when you hand over your life to him. Righteousness is a free gift. Take it. Wear it confidently by obeying God's word. Then you will receive all the positive things that God wants to give you along with it.

But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does ( James 1:25)