Knowing God, Following His Instruction

Knowing God, Following His Instruction

God’s righteousness refers to His perfect, holy nature and just actions. He is inherently good and faithful.

God’s instruction — that is His Word and the guidance the Holy Spirit gives us.

If God is righteous and good, then it makes sense that His instruction would guide us in the same direction.

In being an ambassador of Christ, we need direction, so we know how to live that kind of life. When we look into the Word of God, we find that instruction and His character, which we can model.

In Psalm 32:8 it says, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.”

And in 2 Corinthians 5:20-21 it says, “So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, ‘Come back to God!’ For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.”

We can read all about the character of God and how we, as Christ followers, are called to reflect those same qualities. The Fruit of the Spirit is given for that purpose: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control.

God is the same yesterday, today, and forever — but we can change from moment to moment. That is why we need to learn from Him. We are made righteous through the blood of Jesus and through salvation, but that does not make us righteous in the same way God is righteous. We are not perfect, and we do not always judge rightly.

As I’ve been reading God’s Word, I’ve been drawn to Paul and David. Both were men of God, and both had close relationships with Him, yet they were very different.

David, as we know, wrote many of the Psalms in the Old Testament. He was called a man after God’s own heart. David had his faults, but because of the sincerity of his heart, he drew close to God. In his writing, we see that he was a broken man, yet he fully depended on God and praised Him in every season.

Paul, who was once Saul — a man who persecuted Christ followers — became a follower of Christ after a personal encounter with Jesus. He went on to become one of the most prominent writers of the New Testament, offering instruction after instruction on how to live as a Christ follower. He also praised God in every season.

Both men learned the character of God through their close relationships with Him.

God has been showing me lately how I’ve been viewing things and even how I’ve been constructing my prayers. He’s corrected me by showing me that I haven’t been thinking in a Kingdom-minded way, but in a here-and-now way.

David and Paul both viewed life through the lens of the Kingdom of God, and we are called to do the same.

This has really changed how I see God’s character, because He wants me to view things from His perspective and understanding. He’s not letting me stay stagnant — He’s lovingly instructing me.

What does this teach us?

It shows us that we cannot fully understand God’s character, His righteousness, His instruction, or His counsel without a right relationship with Him. We need daily communication with the Lord, because without it, we can misinterpret what God has for us. We can misunderstand who He is and even misread His Word.

It is through God that true understanding comes.

With that understanding, we begin to experience peace in the middle of storms. We learn that timing belongs to God. We recognize that our flesh will fail, but through Christ’s strength, we are able to do more than we ever thought possible — because God provides beyond what we can think or imagine.

God is righteous. His character is good, and His instruction is never wrong.

We are made right through the death of Christ, and we are instructed and counseled by God through His Word and the Holy Spirit. All of this leads to our growth — our sanctification — and that process is ongoing.

With a God who has no beginning and no end, and whose love for us stretches as far as the east is from the west, we can walk forward with confidence — not in ourselves, but in Him.

So, what does this look like in real life?

It looks like opening your Bible even when you don’t feel like it. It looks like praying throughout your day, not just in hard moments. It looks like asking, “God, what do You say about this?” before reacting.

Learn who God is. Know His character. Follow His instruction and His counsel — because the more you know Him, the more your life will begin to reflect Him.