I don’t think we recognize as much as we should that righteousness is a good thing. That recognition is certainly not always the case “out there.” I don’t keep up with all the details of the seemingly never-ending Epstein affair, but there are folks resigning from high-profile positions because of their association with him. I expect some of them might be thinking, “I wish I had been a bit more interested in doing the right thing than in indulging in the wrong thing.”

Righteousness is not only God’s requirement, it’s his recipe for the good life. It’s right there in Isaiah 32:

…until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is deemed a forest. Then justice will dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness abide in the fruitful field. And the effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever. (Isaiah 32.15 – 17, ESV)

“The effect of righteousness will be peace”

“The result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever.”

The section concludes with:

My people will abide in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places. (Isaiah 32.18, ESV)

Not, “Who wouldn’t want righteousness?” but “Who wouldn’t want the effects of righteousness?”

If righteousness is obedience to God and his laws, wouldn’t we better off righteous? Like a father trying to direct the family, doesn’t life run smoother when the kids cooperate?

God made us and gave us a maintenance manual. If we run the creature according to the manual, we get a minimum of friction and a maximum of joy and peace. – Skip Gray

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (Psalm 16.11, ESV)