| Good morning everyone, Our theme for this month: “Personal Responsibility” Our Bible verse for today: “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us work for the good of all, especially for those who belong to the household of faith.” Galatians 6:10 Our thought for today: “God makes us responsible for doing good” All this month we’re considering issues of personal responsibility which God has clearly revealed to us in the Bible. In other words, there are things God has shown us in the Bible which He wants us to do, and we therefore have a responsibility to do them. Being all-powerful, God could easily accomplish these things by Himself and without our involvement. Instead, He chooses to involve us for our own good. It’s good for us to have responsibility for stuff. One of the things the Bible clearly reveals to us that God makes us responsible for is doing good deeds for others. We are to bless them, in His name, with the objective of helping them to understand and experience the love God has for them. The most common example of Christians doing good for others is doing something good or helpful for a suffering person. This often takes the form of humanitarian aid, or some other means of comforting those who are suffering. This kind of helping is so important to God that in Matthew 25:40 Jesus said that when we do something like feeding the poor, housing the homeless, or visiting those who are sick or in prison, He considers it to have been done directly for Him personally. This kind of helping someone in need could even be as simple as helping a neighbor with a repair or chore. It can all be done in the name of Jesus and for His glory. Another form of doing good that’s especially important to the Lord was mentioned by Paul in Galatians 6:10 (above). It’s doing good for those in the household of faith. He was referring to Christians taking care of Christians, church family looking out of each other. This is an important part of church life and it goes a long way towards helping a church stay healthy and strong. A somewhat surprising form of doing good which God requires of us, is doing good for and being a blessing to your enemies. In Matthew 5:44, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said we are to bless our enemies. In Romans 12:20 the Apostle Paul said, “If you enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink. For in so doing you will be heaping fiery coals on his head.” In other words, for example, when you answer anger and meanness with calm reason and kindness, it will often cause the other person to be ashamed of themselves for not being as gracious as you are. That then can lead to a change of attitude and behavior in them. Being intentional about doing good is a dominant theme in the Bible and therefore there’s much more to it than we can address in a single devotional. So, we’ll come back to this tomorrow. God bless, Pastor Jim |
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