'Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness' (Matthew 5:6).

This beatitude talks about our goals and desires. What do we seek in life? Pleasure? Money? Status? There could be many answers. This is the most important topic of all because it is our ambitions that make or break us. We all know people who suffer from such inadequate motivation that they fail to fulfil their potential.

In the same way, we have heard about people whose motivation is so twisted and inappropriate that it destroys their lives, and sometimes the lives of others. 

Jesus says here that the only thing we should long for is righteousness. We need to seek justice for others and ourselves, and intervene on behalf of the weak and downtrodden. We need to delight in truth, honesty and fairness, while rejecting lies, deception and spin. Indeed, we need to be better than people who are only vaguely interested in righteousness, as if it were something we might vote for in a by-election. We need to have an intense and overpowering desire for righteousness, so that is our biggest priority in life. 

Here, as elsewhere, we see God's enjoyment of irony. Most people hunger and thirst for power, pleasure and possessions, and even when they get them, they're not satisfied. On the other hand, it is people who hunger and thirst for what is right that He satisfies. The only yearning that will ever be fully met is the yearning for righteousness.

From The Happiness Secret p.220-221