Consistently, or most of the time?

The fruit of the [consistently] righteous is a tree of life, and he who is wise captures and wins souls [for God—he gathers them for eternity]. (Proverbs 11:30)

The fruit of the 'consistently' righteous - those who make the choice to live 'right', following the directions God gives over their lives. The idea of consistency might just vary a little bit depending on who you ask. To the one who is 'always' on the mark, they will define it as never missing the mark. To the one who occasionally misses the mark, they might define it as making good decisions the majority of the time with a 'once in a while' slip up. I will not debate this with anyone - when God asks for consistency, he means with no or very few exceptions. He forgives those exceptions when we ask for his forgiveness, repent, and actually turn back to him. He would much more prefer that the seeds he sows into our lives would produce 'consistent' growth, but he knows that even the most 'righteous' among us misses the mark on occasion!

When we choose to pursue righteousness, we are not only doing so for ourselves, but for all those around us who 'witness' how it is we choose to live out our daily 'Christianity'. I put that in quotes because so many claim to be Christian, but their life choices certainly don't add up to 'right-living'. Pursue righteousness and you might just be labeled as 'weird', 'out there', 'a holy roller', or even 'a goody two shoes'. I think I have been referred to in all these ways and that is fine by me. Do I 'hit the mark' all of the time? Certainly not! I do want to live in a way that honors the sacrifice Jesus gave so willingly for me. I don't always demonstrate wisdom in my choice of words, actions, or even thoughts, but I know that God's plan is for me to lean into him, be as consistent in my walk as possible, and then trust him to bring about the changes within me that will help me to make wise choices more and more.

Just in case you haven't thought about it in a while, your choice to 'live right' actually is a means of 'evangelizing' the world. Your actions are making an impact on a life right now. Choose to live consistently by asking God to help you make 'right choices'. Then lean into him to help you choose wisely. Don't just ask for his help and then go around doing your own thing. The proof of who we live for is really observed best in the fruit that is produced. Just sayin!