Doing Good

“Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ.” Colossians 3:23-24

It’s good to do good. But if doing good for the sake of doing good is your only motive for doing good, then your good-doing may not amount to much and you may quickly lose interest in the good you were doing. If you find that confusing, I apologize. 

The truth is, you and I have the capacity to do much good in this world: showing kindness, helping others, donating money, raising families, making discoveries, sharing our time and resources. But good for the sake of good has a shallow and temporary reward. 

As God’s children, we should do everything because of the cross and for the sake of Christ. If we feed the poor because it makes us feel better, our reward is that we feel better. But if we feed the poor because we acknowledge that we were once dead in our sin, but Christ saved us and gave us this great hope and capacity to serve those in need, then when we serve the poor it’s like we are serving Jesus himself. 

If we can view life through the lens of the cross, we will work willingly at whatever we do as though we were working for the Lord. And Paul says that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, because the Master you are serving is Christ.