Opportunities to Do Good

(Galatians 6:9-10)

As Christians we are called to learn how to walk in love, and part of that process is to do good to all people.This is what the verses I am looking at today are speaking about.

God is love, and we are being transformed into His image as we walk with Christ, learning to live as He lived.

Jesus did good to all mankind, even going so far as to die for the sins of the world so that those who choose to follow Him would have the hope of salvation from sins, and as a reward, eternal life. We are called to imitate Christ, and as such we are to do good to all mankind in the same way.

Well Doing

We see in the first of these verses that we should not grow weary in doing good. The verse says this:

And let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we do not lose heart. (Galatians 6:9)

Well doing means to do what is good. It is always right to do what is good, especially what is good in the sight of God.

However, there are times when we will do what is good in the sight of God, but will not receive any recognition for it, and may even be abused one way or another for doing what is good in the sight of God. Not everyone in the world accepts the righteousness of God. Not everyone wants to be aided or helped, and as such can even take offence.

It is probably more a case of not being recognised for doing good that could make a person weary. You can imagine the thought processes I am sure, and may have even had similar thoughts yourself. Thoughts like, “Here I am knocking myself out for others and I get nothing in return.” Or even the old Rodney Dangerfield classic line, “I don’t get no respect.”

I recall a case where my father saw a car pulled over to the side of the road with smoke coming from the engine bay. He pulled over and saw immediately that the problem was the distributor wiring had shorted out and the plastic coating was red-hot and starting to catch fire. He grabbed the wires with his bare hands and ripped them out before the car caught fire and the woman occupant could have been injured, and in the process his hands were burnt. However, the woman driver, instead of thanking him for preventing a potential catastrophe, went ballistic at my father for what he did. When he tried to explain the implications of what could have happened if he had not ripped out the wires, she did not listen and continued to remain angry.

Sometimes you just can’t help people even when it is obvious that they need help.

But the point of “well-doing” or doing good is not about you. It’s about the other person for whom the good is done. It is they who need the help, and we are all in that place from time to time. Doing good is the right thing to do, and I should add that just because the woman in the example above was not grateful for the help given, it did not stop my dad from continuing to help people who needed help.

Reward

The second part of the verse quoted above is about the reward we receive for well-doing or doing what is good.

We may strike times where our good works are met with hostility, as my dad discovered in the example above. But we should always seek to continue to do good because there will be times when the good works will be appreciated. And even if we do not receive any reward in the here and now, the Lord will reward us because we have shown the love of God towards those who need it.

What is the reward we get? It varies from situation to situation.

Of course there will be the final reward from the Lord when we hope to hear Him say, “Well done good and faithful servant,” as He welcomes us into His presence. But there is also the opportunity of reward in this world now.

There is an interesting scripture that tells us the types of reward we may get through well-doing.

40 “He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives him who sent me. 41 He who receives a prophet because he is a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward, and he who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. 42 And whoever gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he shall not lose his reward.” (Matthew 10:40-42)

When we do good to one of the Lord’s people, we receive a reward from that person as well as the reward from the Lord.

A prophet or a righteous man may reward us with insight, knowledge and a word from the Lord. They may reward us with prayer to the Lord on our behalf in thanks for the good done to them. And if we receive them and assist them simply because they are the servants of the Lord, then we are in the same way receiving the Lord Himself and so receive His reward.

Opportunity to do good

The second verse in the section I am reviewing today gives us a further insight that we need to consider.

”So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” (Galatians 6:10)

It is important we understand this scripture. The matter of doing good or well-doing is all about having the opportunity, or as the opportunity arises.

There are many people who come to the Lord and seek to go out into missionary work. That is fantastic. But you do not have to be a missionary to do good.

There are opportunities all around us every day. The focus of the scripture is about doing the good and right thing as the opportunity arises.

Look at the story of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:30-35. Here was a man travelling down the road when he came upon a man who had been robbed and beaten and was left for dead lying on the side of the road.

Did he ignore the man and pass on by, as a priest and a Levite had done earlier? No. He saw the opportunity to help someone who was in need of help and he offered what assistance he was capable of offering.

It should also be noted that the Samaritan could not do everything necessary for the beaten man, but he ensure the man was connected to someone who could aid him effectively to ensure the man recovered.

The point in this is that it was all about have the opportunity and taking action, rather than ignoring the situation. You don’t have to go out looking for the opportunity like those who go on missionary work do, not that there is anything wrong with mission work, and I applaud those who do such work. But not everyone is cut out for the gruelling work required of missionaries.

The opportunities will come or you will come across them, just as the Good Samaritan came across a man who was in need and took action. Just as the situation my father came across with the woman in the smoking car and gave assistance.

And we do not know who it is that we may be assisting in many instances. It may be a brother or sister in the Lord, and the verse in Galatians 6:10 tells us that we should do good to ALL men, but especially those who are brethren in the Lord and of the household of faith.

So let us also remember that it is in doing good and helping those around us, especially those who are of the faith, that we also serve the Lord. We are clearly shown this in Matthew 25:31-46.

Doing good to all, regardless of whether we receive a reward now or not, is always the right thing to do. We are to learn to love as God loves us, and so we are to follow the example of Jesus Christ who did good to all even offering His life so that we may have the opportunity for life.

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