Posts Tagged: doing good for fellow-Christians

“Well Doing!”

On December 5, 2023 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

“Gal. 6:7 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.

Gal. 6:8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

Gal. 6:9 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

Gal. 6:10 So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” (English Standard Version, italics mine.)

A friend of mine has been growing by leaps and bounds this year. That is because he has been putting one daily foot in front of the other for many days during 2023. He has been a good, kind, caring man ever since I’ve known him. He hasn’t always given himself much credit for that, though. I wrote an encouraging reply to my friend, and I thought it might be helpful to you as well. So, here goes!

“Keep doing what you’re doing, and you’ll keep growing.

You’ve been a good man since I’ve known you, but you’ve often not paid sufficient attention to that goodness. You are paying much better attention now, and you are growing into an even better man.

I would say, ‘Well done!’ but that might imply that you are done growing. You are not. So, I say to you, ‘Well doing!’”

So much for what I wrote to my friend. Upon further reflection, I thought about Paul’s words to the Galatians. Paul encouraged them to keep on doing good things for others (Galatians 6:9-10). The Greek verbs here are in the present tense. This suggests an ongoing, continual, lifestyle approach to doing good for others. Paul challenges them—and us—to do good things for everybody.

I can’t prove it, but I suspect that he speaks of doing this “especially for the household of faith” (i.e., believers), not because believers are more important than all the others. Rather, I would suggest that Paul’s “especially” is because believers are often more difficult to love than unbelievers. (Of course, you and I, dear reader, are exceptions to this general rule.) In fact, I am reminded of an old piece of doggerel that goes something like this:

“To dwell above with saints we love

will certainly be glory.

To dwell below with saints we know—

well that’s another story.”

But, whether it is a generic everybody or fellow-Christians, our doing of good needs to be a continuing goal. Only so, can we continually grow and experience the continual presence of God in our lives.

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