Photo by Zach Lucero on Unsplash
Intro Question: What kind of fulfillment does Jesus promise to those who hunger and thirst for righteousness?
Key Passage: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” (Matthew 5:6)
Devotional:
What kind of fulfillment does Jesus promise to those who hunger and thirst for righteousness?
After everything we’ve talked about this week — about what righteousness truly means, about the deep longing we all feel for the brokenness of the world to be made right — I want you to hear this: Jesus sees your hunger. He sees your ache, your emptiness, your questions about why nothing seems to fill the void inside.
I know so many of you are struggling right now. You’ve told me. And my heart aches with you. You’ve tried so many things — chasing after success, relationships, goals that felt important — but here you are, still feeling that emptiness. You feel like you’re running on fumes. Discouraged. Restless. Like something essential is missing and you don’t know where to turn anymore.
Please know this: you’re not alone in feeling that way. This ache you carry? It’s part of the human experience. The restlessness. The hunger for more.
But I need you to hear me on this — there is hope.
Jesus, in Matthew 5:6, gives you this beautiful, powerful promise: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”
That promise is for you.
Restless Hearts
This deep longing you feel? That restlessness? It’s not something to push down or ignore. St. Augustine nailed it when he said, “You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in You.”
You’re feeling restless because your heart is wired to find its home in God. I’ve seen so many of you chase after things that seem to promise satisfaction — success, relationships, attention on social media, maybe even the idea of being a “good Christian” — but none of it works for long, does it?
Here’s the truth: even the most successful, the most “put together” people in this world feel it too. The influencers you follow, the celebrities you admire — they have all the stuff you think would make life easier. But behind the scenes, so many of them are wrestling with depression, anxiety, and that same emptiness you feel. They’ve reached the top of what the world says will make you happy, and still, it’s not enough.
Why?
Because only God can truly fill us.
No achievement, no relationship, no earthly success will ever reach the deep hunger in your soul. That’s not how we’re wired. You and I? We were made for a different kind of fulfillment — a kind that only comes when we stop chasing the things of this world and start pursuing God’s righteousness.
Wrestling with Emptiness — Even Jesus Did
And let me be clear — it’s not wrong to feel this way. It’s not wrong to have moments of emptiness, to feel like you’re not enough, or to wonder where God is when you’re hurting.
Even Jesus — the Son of God Himself — experienced deep sorrow and despair.
Do you remember His agony in the Garden of Gethsemane? The night before He went to the cross, Jesus was overwhelmed to the point of death (Matthew 26:38). He cried out to the Father, asking if there was any other way, any other path. He wasn’t immune to despair or anxiety. What theologians call the “dark night of the soul” — Jesus lived that.
He understands your pain. He understands your emptiness. But even in His darkest hour, He was anchored in His relationship with the Father. He held onto the only thing that could sustain Him through the agony ahead.
Jesus isn’t promising that you’ll never feel empty or struggle. What He’s promising is that when you hunger and thirst for righteousness — when you turn to Him — you will be filled. Not with cheap, fleeting satisfaction, but with a deep, soul-level peace that only comes from knowing God is with you, even when life is falling apart.
Like a Child with Its Mother
Let me paint this picture for you, because I want you to feel the kind of love and fulfillment Jesus is offering.
Think about a baby nursing with its mother. That baby comes to her crying, hungry, completely dependent. The baby can’t provide for itself, can’t fix its own hunger. But the mother meets the baby where it is, over and over again, feeding and comforting the child.
It’s such a pure image of satisfaction. The baby isn’t worried about anything else. It’s not striving to be more. It’s simply resting, knowing that it’s cared for, that its needs will be met. The baby will still cry, still hunger again, but every time, the mother is there to fill that need.
This is what Jesus does for us.
We come to Him hungry, desperate, maybe even broken. And He meets us where we are, over and over again. He fills us with His love, His peace, His presence. Just like a mother nourishing her child, Jesus sustains us. We may still cry, still feel hunger in this life, but because of our relationship with Him, we can come back time and time again, knowing that He will meet us there.
He doesn’t leave us empty. He doesn’t abandon us in our hunger. He fills us — not with the temporary highs the world offers, but with a deep, lasting sense of being loved, known, and cared for.
The Promise of What’s to Come
And yet, as beautiful as that picture is, there’s something even greater ahead.
Just as a baby grows and one day no longer needs to nurse, Jesus is pointing us toward a future where our hunger will be fully satisfied.
In Revelation 7:16–17, we’re given a glimpse of this future: “Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst… For the Lamb… will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
Right now, we live in this in-between space. Jesus meets our needs here, in the mess and brokenness of life, but there is still a future waiting for us — a day when we won’t hunger or thirst anymore, when everything that’s broken will be made right.
We will be fully satisfied, in the presence of God, where there’s no more pain, no more emptiness, no more restless searching.
The Now and the Not Yet
So here’s where we are, right now.
We’re living in the “now and not yet.” Jesus is filling us right here, right now, but we’re also still longing, still waiting for that future when everything will be made right. And that’s okay. That’s how it’s supposed to be. The hunger you feel isn’t a sign that you’ve failed or that God is distant — it’s a reminder that you were made for something more.
So, what do you do with this?
You hunger and thirst for righteousness. You come to Jesus over and over, like a baby to its mother, knowing that He will meet you where you are and fill you with what you need. You pursue right relationship with God and others, not as a way to earn His love, but because you already have it.
And as you do, you’ll find that deep sense of fulfillment your soul craves. It may not look like what the world promises, but it’s real. It’s lasting. It’s the kind of satisfaction that stays with you, even when life is hard.
And one day — one day soon — you’ll find yourself in a world where you’ll never hunger or thirst again.
That’s the promise Jesus makes to you. A promise you can hold onto, even in your emptiness, even in your restlessness. Because He will fill you. Over and over. Until the day when you are fully satisfied in Him forever.
Reflection Questions:
- Where do you typically look for satisfaction in your life? How does this align with Jesus’ promise in Matthew 5:6?
- What does it mean for you to hunger and thirst for righteousness? How can you cultivate this kind of desire in your daily life?
- How might your life change if you sought fulfillment through right relationships with God, others, and creation, rather than through personal achievement?
Prayer: “Jesus, You promise that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be filled. Help me to desire what truly matters — a life that reflects Your love and justice. Teach me to seek satisfaction in right relationships, and to find joy and purpose in living according to Your will. Amen.”
Devotional: How Can Righteousness Truly Satisfy Us? was originally published in GoodLion Theology on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
