Blessed are Those who Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness

Coming then to this fourth beatitude, we find then that it is the
natural outworking of the first three beatitudes, and especially of the second, which leads to this one. If someone were to tell you, "I hate sin and evil, and their remaining effects in the world (and in me) bring me sorrow and grief," then of necessary consequence, such a person must truly love righteousness and strive after it. The first necessitates the second, and vice versa. And so, inevitably, one who recognizes their utter dependence upon God for all things, and one who mourns the effects of the fall and sin in the world (and in themselves), and one who willingly and humbly suffers wrong for the sake of the edification of the brethren, the salvation of the lost and
the glory of God, must and will, inevitably (if they are sincere in the first three virtues here expressed), yearn to grow in righteousness.