Spanish 
Thoughts from DA Kolb
The theme for this month is "Righteous Living." Such a lifestyle implies living in accordance with God's will, His thoughts, His plans. Through the divine services, we will learn how this is possible for us through the sacrifice and grace of Jesus Christ, God's expression of His good will toward humanity. An old hymn expresses this in a descriptive way:
"All glory be to God on high, who hath our race befriended!
To us no harm shall now come nigh, the feud at last is ended;
God showeth His good will toward men, and peace shall dwell on earth again;
O thank Him for His goodness. O thank Him for His goodness!"
Sin came into the world with Adam, and all his descendants (all people) became enslaved to sin, and thus became enemies of God. Through Jesus Christ, God—in a matchless act of love—redeemed us from sin, ended the "feud," and opened the way to eternal fellowship with the triune God. Imagine—through Christ, we are not only released from the chains of sin, we are also lifted to a new life in Him. We find a scriptural example of this type of “elevation” in the story of Joseph, who was not only released from prison, but also further exalted to be next to the Pharoah. Thus, to live righteously, one must first be aware of what God has done for all people. This awareness then results in a change of attitude from human self-righteousness and self-importance to the joyful recognition of this wonder, and a lifeway of humility, adoration, and thankfulness.
Another element of righteous living is sincere repentance. Some are misled by this term and believe that repenting only happens when one is caught, and a conciliatory posture is then necessary to escape judgement or punishment. When I was young and got into trouble, I could easily "repent" and simply say "I'm sorry" in order to not be sent to my room. This is repenting out of attrition, i.e. sorrow for one's sins arising from a motive other than that of the love of God.
True and sincere repentance is rooted in contrition. Contrition is sorrow for one's sins based on the selfless motive of love for God, and sadness over having offended Him. This is only possible when one is not only mindful of His benevolent act of love, but also lives joyfully in the shadow of His grace. Under this grace, a sinner follows a path of true repentance which includes—awareness of one's sinfulness, sincere remorsefulness, heartfelt confession to the Lord, the earnest resolution to change, and forgiving those who have sinned or offended. This becomes part of our "normality" in righteous living.
In a recent divine service, the Apostle Schnabel stated that when we live in awareness of God's great act of love, we must see and approach things differently. We encounter death differently, for instance, because we realize that the omnipresent God can help a soul at any time and call them to salvation in Christ. Thus, our sorrow is based on our separation, yet with the assurance of reunion to those who are completed at Christ's return. We live through calamity as others do, knowing that Jesus Christ also suffered, yet we rest in the hands of the Almighty and trust in His will (as Christ did) for our well-being—in this world or the next.