Blessed Are Those Who Hunger And Thirst After Righteousness

Last week, we talked about meekness, and how attaining this profound gentleness impacts our spiritual growth as children of God. In this post, we shift to the fourth beatitude: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled” (Matt. 5:6). What does it mean to hunger and thirst after righteousness? And how do we ensure this is what we hunger and thirst for, above all else?

Be sure to check back next week for our next post on the fifth beatitude!

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What does “hunger and thirst after righteousness” mean?

Much like our physical bodies hunger and thirst for food, our hearts and souls do the same, but for righteousness instead. To “hunger and thirst” for something indicates a yearning for it. This yearning is strong enough to rival our bodies’ primal needs for food and water. King David beautifully expresses this concept in Psalm 42, when he says, “As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God” (Ps. 42:1-2).

The more we become aware of our sinfulness, the more we fear the loss of our salvation. Our conscience can no longer stomach the idea of a willful spiritual death. So instead we begin to hunger for God’s righteousness by obeying Christ’s commandments. By living in God and with Him. To live in righteousness means to live according to the will of God. To ascertain His will and find the strength to truly live it, we look to Holy Scripture and the Life of the Church. We find this strength in prayer and through the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist. As the Lord says: “I am the bread of life … For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed (John 6:35, 55).

Seeking righteousness is our purpose

Strictly speaking, the Lord blesses not the righteous in this beatitude, but those seeking it. In the Scriptures, the Lord tells us:

Do not be anxious, saying “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we wear?” For the heathen seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first His kingdom and its righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.

Matthew 6:31-32

The very purpose of our life is to hunger and thirst after God’s righteousness. Having been created in the image of God, there is a certain unquiet in our hearts. The satisfaction and rest that soothes this unquiet comes from developing an ever-greater union with the uncontainable and inexhaustible richness and fullness of divine life.

Saint Gregory of Nyssa (4th c.) said it this way:

For it is impossible for our human nature ever to stop moving; it has been made of its Creator ever to keep changing. Hence when we prevent it from using its energy on trifles, and keep it on all sides from doing what it should not, it must necessarily move in a straight path towards truth.

On Virginity

Basically, this means that the spiritual person will not merely move from unrighteousness to righteousness. Instead, he will move for all eternity in God to ever-greater righteousness and perfection. To hunger and thirst after righteousness, therefore, is an essential characteristic of the living soul of the righteous person; it is the essential dynamic of spiritual life. The Apostle Paul has given this very doctrine:

For they shall be filled

Those who hunger and thirst after righteousness will experience profound spiritual satisfaction. Internal peace, a calm conscience, justification, and forgiveness. When we pursue the will of the Lord in this way, we see what the Lord has revealed to us in His Mysteries and in the Gospel, in Orthodox teachings.

We find the highest joy and blessedness when we yearn for righteousness. As the psalmist King David says, I shall be filled when Thy glory is made manifest to me (Ps. 16:16). To hunger and thirst for God, “for the living God” (Ps 42.2) is spiritual life. To pursue or hunger for anything else means death for the soul.

Keep Reading: The Power Of The Jesus Prayer