Jump Start # 351 

Galatians 6:9 “Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.” 

  Paul’s instructions to the Galatians is very helpful for us. It reminds us that in all that we do we need to make time to do good for others. The next verse in this passage says, “As we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

  Christians are those that do good. In Titus we read that we are to be engaged in doing good deeds. Christianity is a roll up your sleeves and do good for others. This demonstrates our love for them and it shows that we are compassionate and care about others. I fear that many have turned Christianity into a thinking religion, where we talk and speculate and discuss and debate but in the end nothing much is accomplished. Doing good doesn’t have to be big and fancy. It can be helping an older Christian out of their car. It can be sharing your umbrella with someone as you walk into a building. It can be baking some cookies and taking them to a neighbor. It can be helping someone move by loading boxes in a truck. It can be taking a college kid out to eat. It can be visiting a patient in the hospital during your lunch break. It can be buying a Bible for someone who doesn’t have their own. The list of good that can be done is long.

  But in all of this we must realize that there is a proper way of doing good to others. First, when someone does good for another, they don’t have to tell others what they did. That’s bragging and that kills the spirit of doing good. Secondly, the person that you did good to should not feel like they are in debt to you now. The payment is a “thank you.” Thirdly, the motive of doing good, is simply to help. Jesus did good, and so should His people. Fourthly, do good on your own. Some can’t seem to do anything without getting a group involved, making announcements in church and making a big thing about it. Just go and do good on your own. Don’t ask the church to repay you for your expenses, that’s tacky and in some ways not even Biblical.

  Doing good takes time, money and effort on your part. It means I have to not be so busy with my life that I can help others. Most won’t ask, which means you have to have open eyes to see the good deeds that can be done. Some will walk right by things and others will see a need and get about it. Most of us have had others help us out some where along the way. And even if we haven’t, this is what God wants, and this is what Paul is writing.

  Now, there is one more aspect of doing good that Paul addresses in our verse today. Do not lose heart, later he states, do not grow weary. Both of those expressions carry the idea of being tired. Not tired from physical work, but tired on the inside. Emotionally drained. Discouraged. Jesus told the disciples not to lose heart and to pray instead (Lk 18:1). The good that we do can be ruined by the spirit we do it in. Some complain while doing good. Some want to give the person they’re helping a sermon, and generally it’s not a nice sermon. When that happens, the person has become weary. They need to stop, refocus, get their attitude in shape, pray to the Lord and then get back at it. Some get so weary that they quit. “I always do it,” they say, “and now I’m not doing any more. Someone else can.” That’s the voice of a weary person.

  Paul says don’t do that. We can be overcome by trying to do it all. No one can. We can take on too much and feel our selves pulled in many directions. But the heart of a church is the care, compassion and the good that is done by the members. This is how we feel connected. We need each other. We help each other. We are there for each other. It may be our turn to help this time. The next time, they may be coming to help me. That’s how it works.

  The Galatians needed to be reminded of these things. Don’t forget is what the apostle is telling them. There are things you can do. People need you. Get about it and do it with the right spirit.

  We, too, need to be reminded of these things. The ole’ selfish spirit rises up in us from time to time and we want to be served instead of serving. We must fight that. We must realize that the folks need me and I need to get busy at those things.

Roger