I believe it should go without saying to build your house on righteousness, but what does that really mean. I have studied and written that righteousness is not something that we can assign to ourselves, only God can count us as righteous. So how are we to know we are building on righteousness.

“¹³Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness,

and his upper rooms by injustice,

who makes his neighbor serve him for nothing

and does not give him his wages,

¹⁴who says, ‘I will build myself a great house

with spacious upper rooms,’

who cuts out windows for it,

paneling it with cedar

and painting it with vermilion.”

— Jeremiah 22:13-14 (ESV)

In the verses above, we find what not to do. As I read the above, I see a selfish man who takes advantage of others in order to elevate himself. I see the one who is more concerned with his own possessions and status than that of others around him. This is certainly not righteous.

Now, having fine things and seeking assistance from others does not indicate unrighteousness. It is the using of others and placing those things above the well being of others where one demonstrates unrighteousness.

There it is, what is meant by building your house on righteousness. No, we cannot declare ourselves righteous, only God can. But, what we can do is demonstrate righteousness daily in all that we do. We should be doing righteous actions. We should be building others up as opposed to exploiting them. We should be sharing with others instead of building our own wealth and status. We are to love, care, and protect those less fortunate. We are to share the gospel with others as opposed to keeping the LORD to ourselves.

Righteous actions do not make us righteous and somehow make us better than others. It does not make our house any more or less than that of our neighbor. But, what righteous actions show is our understanding of where it all comes from. Righteous actions demonstrate the love of God flowing from our heart. Righteous actions show who and where we have given ourselves to, the LORD.

“¹⁵And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” – Joshua 24:15 (ESV)

Joshua makes it clear to the people that he gives himself to the LORD. He will serve the LORD and seek guidance from Him in all matters of His house. Joshua chose righteous action in the name of the LORD to build his house. He was not the selfish man taking advantage of others to elevate himself. He did not consider himself righteous. Joshua built his house on righteousness through his actions in the name of the LORD. We should be doing the same.

Where are you building your house? Are you gaining while those helping you get there are less than taken care of? What if you decided to build your house on righteousness through the actions in the name of the LORD instead?