Do Good Anyway!

Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. For, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech. They must turn from evil and do good; they must seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”  Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.. But in your hearts revere Christ as lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. I Peter 3:8-16 NIV

To The Resistance:  Stay strong and don’t fall to the level of the evil ones. We’re smarter than that. We don’t have to use the foul language the “other side” uses, we don’t have to humiliate others when they attempt to belittle us, but we must tell the truth at all cost. And if a person acts like an idiot, we must say so (I don’t know of any polite synonyms for this word). No matter what they say or do–do good anyway!

It is truly sad that we have come to this place in America where we have to face the fact that those 62+ million people created this fiasco we’re experiencing. They did it because of frustration and hatred–acting on pure emotion–without logic or intellect or any justifiable rationale.

I’ve talked about this before so I won’t belabor the point. People please, stop allowing your emotions to dictate your decisions–especially those you can’t just go back and change. When in turmoil because of stirred emotions and upheavals in your life, save the important decision-making for another time when either you or your surroundings have calmed.

I know a thing or two about letting emotions drive decisions. I’ve been there. And I don’t plan to make the same mistakes–over and over again. At some point–we all (including me) need to take a step back and think before we act. And we must think about how every decision we make, impacts our lives and the lives of others for more than the moment it might take to make the decision.

The 2016 election is a perfect case in point–raw emotions–fueled by the frustrations felt of those who felt neglected and by those who feel they are the superior race and are afraid they’re going to become extinct–pushing hate-filled rhetoric and lies brought us to this place. No matter how much they demonstrate hate, I’m going to promote love–and do good anyway.

There is a solution for every problem and His name is Jesus. When we allow Him to guide our every thought and action, we can avoid some of the travesties we face in life. We do not have to trade insult for insult for those who regret their vote, but can’t do anything about it. We do not have to resort to name-calling, just because they do it.  When I call someone an idiot–it is because they have demonstrated a lack of understanding about a situation and refuse to heed sound, wise advice. By definition–according to a dictionary–an idiot is a very foolish or stupid person. Therefore, if I speak truth, I’m not name-calling.  And I can speak truth, gently–in love–doing good anyway.

At any rate, I’ve spent enough time of talking about the WH idiot for today. I’m continuing plans to run for President in 2020 and I can guarantee people, there won’t be an idiot in the WH if I win. I’m wise enough to know what I don’t know and wise enough to seek the assistance and advice of those who do.

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Still Waiting For Peace!

Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule—to the Israel of God. Galatians 6:10, 16 NIV

If we’re still waiting to see peace in our midst, it must be because we have not followed the rule. The rule–coming into verse 10 and referred to in verse 16 is to “do good to all people, especially those who belong to the family of believers.”

Who is in the family? Everyone who has accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior; everyone who has submitted to God’s will and keeps the greatest commands–to love Him and Love everyone else; everyone who lives according to The Word and not just their opinion of The Word--this is the family of Believers–no matter what denominational banner they carry.

Until we understand this rule–doing good to all who are in the family–we delay seeing the peace that is promised to us and we have no one to blame but ourselves.

Now, doing good to all does not mean we condone wrongdoing simply because people are in the family. Children are in families and it is the responsibility of the parents to correct them when they go astray and guide them into living right–according to The Word. As members of this vast family of Believers–it is our responsibility–with Holy Spirit guiding us–to correct those in the family who are going astray.

How do we know when they’re going astray? Any time we support a person who promotes hate and fear-mongering, has no respect for self or others, lacks a moral compass and doesn’t have a clue as to what or who Love is--we delay peace and mercy from showing up in our lives.

It is not enough to keep hoping and a-praying God will change a person’s heart–their heart won’t change no matter how many people are praying for them until they want their heart to change. And we must stop making excuses for those who will not accept responsibility for what they say and do. Making excuses for a wayward child’s behavior and never setting boundaries for them leads them to believe that everything they do is all right and they never understand the difference between right and wrong.

In the political arena, we’re dealing with a spoiled-brat who does not understand boundaries and never accepts responsibility for all the foolish things he says and yet, those who support him are quick to defend him–explaining and clarifying what he meant (but didn’t say) and then they blame the rest of us for “misinterpreting” what he said.

At what point is someone with an ounce common decency going to stand up and tell this man to stop doing stupid! And when he continues to refuse, everyone supporting him should back away from him before they are labeled as unstable as he is. There are some things that should never be uttered–not in a joke–not for any reason and when a person crosses this line and is given a pass–they’ll be looking for a pass for the next stupid thing they do, that may end up with disastrous consequences.

I don’t know about anyone else, but I want the peace God has promised and though I do all I can to do good to and for others, my peace is delayed because of the complacency of others who refuse to correct poor behavior.

But if peace does not reside within a person, they cannot promote peace to cover their surroundings by being obedient to God. So, I guess I’ll be waiting–patiently–for the peace that resides within me to overflow into my surroundings onto others and the peace will continue to flow like molten lava until all are covered–doing good for the family of Believers.

Why Doing Good Is Better!

LORD, do good to those who are good, to those who are upright in heart. Psalm 125:4 NIV

Who is evil and who is good?

Do all people act as they should?

Is it right or is it wrong,

To follow good or evil throngs?

In this simple communication with God, asking Him to do good to those who are good, those whose hearts are right, we see there are more benefits for being good than being evil, although it appears that evil abounds.

No matter how many people do wrong, it will never be right or good in God’s sight. So, simply following the crowd in doing evil is not going to accomplish much, other than reaping the consequences of following the crowd.

Have you noticed that the people who do good–just do good–whether there is a crowd to follow them or them going it alone? Good people–those whose hearts are right with God and they only seek to do what is right, don’t need to be crowd-pleasers or crowd followers. They do good because doing good is what’s right. And they do what is right because their goal is to please The Lord, not people.

When our ways please The Lord, He makes even our enemy our footstool. Are we concerned if our ways please God or not? If we’re not concerned about pleasing God, then we must be more concerned about appeasing the enemy and his plots. There is a reward and many benefits from pleasing God. If we delight ourselves in pleasing Him, He says, He will give us the desires of our hearts. If our hearts desire to do evil, then we are wasting our time, but for all the good we can do, we should do–as unto The Lord–and not unto men.

How do we know when we’re doing the right and good thing? When we know The Word and we live our lives aligned with The Word, we have no fear of doing what is wrong. Instead of seeking counsel from others, we seek God’s counsel and His wisdom and knowledge and know without a doubt we cannot go wrong. 

And if we don’t know The Word, then our hearts should be as a child’s–who only wants to please his/her parents. Children will inherently do good unless they have been taught to do evil. Therefore, if we never teach anyone to do evil, they won’t. If we teach them to do good, they will. If we remember that all behavior is learned–and not attributable to osmosis, we would be more careful about what we do in front of our children and others.

Let’s determine in our hearts that we will only do what is good–seeking to please God rather than man and know we’ll receive the rewards of being good rather than the consequences for being evil.

Look For Opportunity To Do Good!

“Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” (Galatians 6:10 NIV)

How often do we have an opportunity to do good? As often as we wake up, we have opportunity to do good–even if it is something as simple as smiling and offering an encouraging word to someone else.

Therefore, let’s look for opportunity to do good–always, for all people, but especially for those of the household of faith–those followers of Jesus Christ who will not back down from standing firm on God’s Word.

We can encourage our children.

We can encourage our spouses.

We can encourage our neighbors.

We can watch out for our senior citizens and make sure no one is taking advantage of them or we can do some of those things they have difficulty doing–yard work, driving, shopping, etc.

We can get involved as a volunteer in our school districts, our churches, our communities–doing whatever we can do to help make life a little easier for someone else.

Sometimes, a phone call is all that is necessary to let someone know we are thinking about them, care about them and to see if they need anything.

I’m not saying that Believers should be doormats or used indiscriminately. We should always be wise as a serpent, but gentle as a dove, doing all things to please God, not us or to impress people.

Whenever we question our own motives for the things we do, we should ask ourselves, “Would this please God or do I have a hidden agenda?” We need to be honest with ourselves. If love is not our motive for doing the things we do, we should not do them.

When we know what we do pleases God, it becomes easier to do and we keep looking for opportunities to do good.

Don’t Get Tired Doing Good!

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers” (Galatians 6: 9,10 NIV).

Sometimes, when our own circumstances seem insurmountable, we tend to dwell on our problems and sink into depths of depression, oppressed by those things we cannot control. When we cannot see beyond the next moment, it is difficult to think about the needs of others, but we must.

When we know to do good and don’t–it is sin, no matter what our circumstances are. God encourages us in His Word not to focus on our own issues, but to be on the look out to do something for others–especially those who belong to the family of believers. If we really trust Him, we can know with assurance that when we give our problems to Him, He will take care of them-in His timing, not necessarily ours.

So, while we patiently wait for Him to bring to fruition what we need, we can–if we try–see the needs of others and do good, no matter what our own circumstances.

Doing good for others does not necessarily cost money, but it will take time. But how much time does it take to smile or hug? Time used in prayer is never wasted time, and neither is time used to call or write someone to encourage them to stay strong. This is doing good and when we take the time to serve the needs of others, we please God. When God is pleased with us, He responds to our faith in Him.

It’s a good time to exercise unconditional faith (resting assured of the outcome–no matter what we see), and do good for someone else who is waiting–for us–for an encouraging word. It won’t cost us anything but time. Love–such a wonderful thing–that can shared with anyone, by anyone,, at any time–all the time! Love to love you, today–now get going and do something good!