Doing good is part of the covenant relationship we have with the Lord. We represent Him on the earth, so He wants us to do the things that are important to Him. It starts out with the Lord teaching us the right way and the good way He desires for us to interact with Him, with ourselves, and with others. The scripture below tells us the type of lifestyle the Father calls us to have.
Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil, Learn to do good; Seek justice, Rebuke the oppressor; Defend the fatherless, Plead for the widow.” Isaiah 1:16-17
Today I would like to focus on “Learn to do good.”
The word “learn” means: to teach, exercise in, be trained.
Since each sinful person comes with a degree of self-preservation, we must learn to do good. There are many scriptures that teach us about doing good. We are taught to put others first; not to gossip or cause division. To forgive quickly and not hold grudges against others. Be impartial and be submissive to others. Be generous and hospitable. Be humble towards God and others. There are a multitude of other scriptures that tell us how to do good which can be summed up in loving our neighbor as ourselves.
I like the fact that scripture tells us to learn to do good which means we need to practice it continually. Doing good should not be a one time or once a year event to make ourselves feel good. It should be practiced so much that it becomes a habit to do good. When something has evolved from an action/activity to a regular habit, it has changed our character. Now, we have become a different person!! Many times people get confused by Christians because they see some good, but they also see a lot of selfishness or pride, and they don’t understand who we are.
Learning to do good must be a pursuit of ours. We need to do it because it pleases God, not because it gets us a pat on the back. When doing good becomes a lifestyle, you become known for how you consistently live your life that way, whether that’s generosity, hospitality, humility, love, etc.
There is another side to doing good that is just as important. For those of us who have been walking with the Lord for a long time, we have been in various Bible Studies, heard hundreds of sermons over the years, know the scriptures, taught the scriptures, we are in a different place. We know what doing good is, and we have developed it to some degree in our lives, but the scripture challenges us in a new way:
Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin. James 4:17
This scripture should bother every believer who has been walking with God for a number of years. This sin will be the sin of omission. This is not an overt sin where someone can point a finger at you and say,”see you just sinned!!” These sins will look different: You can show partiality by not talking about someone’s positive characteristics, you may treat someone differently than somebody else because they have a greater benefit to you personally, you may subtly push others aside making them feel they are not important, you may give nice gifts to those who have power or authority over you but not do much for those that can’t help you in your career!! The Lord is not pleased with any of these activities. Man may not see it, others may not be able to point finger at it, but God sees it. God wants us to be people who have integrity of heart and do the good we know we ought to do. We need to let go of possessiveness, jealousy and scarcity to be God’s instruments, not just to a dying world but also to the very people who are around us.
Let me ask you one question: If you are working or you are at a ministry position would you be able to recommend someone for a position that you want because you know they will do a better job than you?
I believe if we are people who do what is right and good in the sight of God, He will take care of our needs, and He will open doors for us that we never thought were available. Let’s walk courageously today and surprise ourselves by letting go of self-preservation. Do something radical that is good in the sight of God, that you would have never done before!!