The Mirror of the Word and other works by C.E. White can be purchased on her website, cewhitebooks.com or on Amazon

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided to you.”

—Matthew 6:33

What does seeking God’s kingdom mean? 

It’s prioritizing the eternal kingdom of God rather than our temporary kingdom in this world. It’s choosing to focus on building up and encouraging others in faith and through discipleship. It’s living out the fruit of the Spirit and caring for those around us. 

We will not be anxious about our earthly kingdom’s success or failure, but rather on the building up of God’s eternal kingdom. We’ll be more concerned about all of that than we will be on whether we have enough provision for this life, as it’s just finished discussing in Matthew 6:25–32.

What does seeking his righteousness mean? 

It’s the righteousness of faith in justification, cleansing us through Christ’s sacrifice so we can be in full relationship with God (Romans 3:25; Romans 4:5; Romans 5:1).

It’s also the righteousness of self–control and obedience in sanctification, becoming holy as he is holy through the power of the Spirit (Romans 6:19; 1 Peter 1:14–16; John 14:21). 

We come to Christ in faith and repentance (1 John 1:9), then continue in faith and repentance, no longer obeying our fleshly desires (Romans 6:12) and no longer presenting our bodies as slaves to impurity and lawlessness (Romans 6:19). We flee youthful lusts (2 Timothy 2:22) and live by the Spirit, putting to death the deeds of our bodies (Romans 8:13). Jesus was fully righteous, and as we practice that righteousness and avoid sin, we show we are of him (1 John 2:29; 1 John 3:7–10).

In total, this means we put eternity, our faith in Christ, and our pursuit of following him above every other goal in our lives.

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