May 10, 2026

“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” — Matthew 6:33

For most of my Christian life, I misunderstood this verse. I read it as a command to achieve God’s righteousness through my own behavior. In my early years as a Christian, this verse was a popular chorus we sang in Bible studies and worship services. It had a beautiful melody and was joyful to sing. I remember singing it prayerfully, longing to become more righteous in my thoughts, words, and deeds.

After all, God’s promise to provide food, clothing, and shelter is connected to seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness. I believed that if I wanted God’s blessing in my life, I needed to value His kingdom and righteousness above everything else. I believed that, sang that, prayed for that, and taught others to do the same.

I’m not saying we should not put God before all things. Of course we should. Where I was mistaken was in how I sought His righteousness.

The Apostle Paul changed my understanding through Philippians 3:1–9. There, Paul describes his life before faith in Christ and reflects a similar pursuit of righteousness. He recounts his zeal and devotion to the law to the point that he could say of himself, “…as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless” (Philippians 3:6). While I could never honestly say that about myself, it was still the standard I thought I should strive for every day.

But Paul comes to a very different conclusion. He writes that his desire now is to “…be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith…” (Philippians 3:9).

What a wonderful discovery: a righteousness given by God through faith in Christ. The very righteousness the law requires is freely given in the gospel. As Augustine wrote, “The law commands what faith obtains.”

The gospel promises that Christ has fulfilled all the demands of the law for us. By faith, Christ is our righteousness.

Through faith, we are united to Christ. He is righteous and has perfectly fulfilled every command of God. Therefore, in Him, we are counted righteous before God. As Paul writes, “…Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).

How, then, do we seek first God’s righteousness?

Not by trying to establish a righteousness of our own, but by trusting that Christ has already fulfilled all righteousness for us and now clothes us in His perfect righteousness as a gift of grace through faith.