Bravado in Christianity. Love Supersedes Trying to Be Right.

A need to be right is something we can all struggle with at times. Living in sonship rather than by the orphan spirit is fueled by understanding our love base.

We can often have a tendency to define ourselves but what we view is “right.” For example, there is the person passionately promoting their teaching, training, or book. “This is it, this is what God is doing in this hour, if you buy this it will change your life.”

In Matthew 22 the Sadducees were passionate about what they thought was “right” pertaining to the resurrection. “Moses said,” was their opening statement. This might be defined as the “My dad is bigger than your dad, nya, nya, nya, nya, nya, nya” approach.

In Matthew 22:34-36 the Pharisees take a shot at exalting their “rightness.” A smooth talking lawyer asks, “What’s the greatest commandment? There are so many good things one can do, honor parents, keep the Sabbath holy, don’t touch lepers, or have no other gods.”

This is similar to the people today promoting their books on prayer, or warfare, missions, or walking in the kingdom, to the point you are not “right” if you are not involved in it.

Why is it so important to be right? The lawyer basically said, “What commandment can I keep, what can I do that will make me right, acceptable in God’s sight?”

In my home growing up, not “being right” could get you hurt. My dad would give me some type of job to do and if I didn’t do it “right,” I got jumped on. If I didn’t know to be quiet at the right time, it could get me yelled at or slapped.

Jesus answers these questions in verses 37-40, “Guys, it is not about who knows the most or who is most doctrinally correct or who can do the “right” thing the best. Guys, it is about love.”

On love hangs all the law and the prophets. Galatians 5:14 sums it up, “All law is fulfilled in one word—love.”