Are You Self-Righteous?

Is it possible to be self-righteous and not even know it? Are you self-righteous? How many times have you ever been asked that question? For some of you this will be the very first time. Self-righteousness is usually a very bad attribute to have but just like everything else, there are some exceptions.

According to Wikipedia, self-righteousness (also called sanctimoniousness, and holier-than-thou attitudes) is a feeling or display of (usually smug) moral superiority derived from a sense that one's beliefs, actions, or affiliations are of greater virtue than those of the average person. The term "self-righteous" is often considered derogatory particularly because self-righteous individuals are often thought to exhibit hypocrisy due to the belief that humans are imperfect and can therefore never be infallible. 

 

So far you are probably thinking, “I sure hope I'm not a self-righteous person, because those folks don't sound like a good group to hangout with.” Well you would be absolutely correct about that! No one likes a hypocrite and will try to avoid them anyway they can. We all know at least one person we would consider to be this way and most likely we are not calling them up to see if they want to hang out with us.

Moses reminded the Israelites of their rebellion in Deut. 9:4-6 when he said, “Do not think in your heart, after the Lord your God has cast them out before you, saying, ‘Because of my righteousness the Lord has brought me in to possess this land’; but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out from before you. 5 It is not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart that you go in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord your God drives them out from before you, and that He may fulfill the word which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 6 Therefore understand that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people. Here we see that self-righteous can be described as objectionable. 

 

In Job 9:20 self-righteousness is described as self-condemned. Thou I were righteous, my own mouth would condemn me; thou I were blameless, it would prove me perverse. We see that self-righteousness is condemning because it cannot make pure. There is a generation that is pure in its own eyes, yet is not washed from its filthiness. It is condemning because it cannot save. Jesus said, For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Now this is some serious business! Lastly we can see in Rom. 10:3 that self-righteousness rejects God's righteousness. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. So self-righteousness is condemning because it is objectionable, self-condemned, cannot save and rejects God's righteousness. Do we need to say more? Are you self-righteous?

Let's continue. God's word continues to describe self-righteousness as unprofitable. I will declare your righteousness and your works, for they will not profit you. Isa. 57:12 It is also as filthy rags. But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are like filthy rags. We all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. Isa. 64:6 Most self-righteous people do not realize these things about themselves. Remember the Pharisee in Luke 18:11, 12? He prayed thanking God that he was not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers or even like a tax collector. He reminded God in his prayer that he fasted twice a week and gave tithes of all he possessed. This type of self-righteousness would be described as boastful. 

 

We should all come to the same conclusion as Paul in Phil. 3:4-9. He saw that no matter how he saw himself and what he had accomplish in the name of God, it was very much insufficient. He counted everything but loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Jesus Christ his Lord, not having his own righteousness, but instead that which is through faith in Christ. Are you still feeling self-righteous? Let's hope not!