“Mapalad ang mga nagugutom at nauuhaw sa katuwiran, sapagkat sila’y bubusugin.”

Mateo 5:6

Do you know what it means to be extremely hungry? Mapalad ka kung hindi mo pa narasanan ito. Pero sa mga taong nakaranas na ng matinding gutom, it means only one thing: Nothing else matters until the hunger is satisfied. After taking that first bite of food with nothing to eat for days, nanamnamin mo ang sarap nito. Only then will you start to feel alive again.

Imagine feeling the same kind of hunger for righteousness. Hindi lang ito ang simpleng kagustuhang maging “mabait”; however, most people define it. Instead, ito ay ang desire na maging matuwid sa mata ng Diyos — sa ating pagkatao, sa ating pag-uugali, sa ating ginagawa, at sa ating sinasabi. Kung gusto mong malaman kung matuwid nga ang isang linya, you will use a ruler to check it. God’s standard is our ruler because He is the ultimate Lawgiver (Isaiah 33:22).

When we hunger and thirst for righteousness, we are consumed by it. We want nothing else but to please God in everything. For those of us who have a relationship with Him through Jesus, the Holy Spirit works in us to tell us what is right. Hindi lang ito ang bulong ng konsensya. It is the third person of the Trinity showing us the way.

Blessed are we if we have a spiritual appetite for righteousness. God will fill our hunger; He will satisfy our souls. Hamakin man tayo ng buong mundo for wanting to uphold God’s standards, we will not buckle down. After all, it’s not people’s approval we are after, and we aren’t made for this world.