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Well Doing
Galatians 6
In Galatians 6:9 we read: “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” It is a comforting and encouraging verse for us. We have learned all our Christian life to do good. This is the verse we should all take assurance that doing good is the right thing to do. We are happy to “do good”. It makes us feel good about ourselves. Is our “doing good” determined by God’s Word or by our feelings? Notice verses 7 & 8: “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.” As wise children of God, we all seek spiritual direction from His word. It appears we may be influenced by ‘what we’ve always heard (done). But we are cautioned to sow good seed and not to be deceived. In verse 9 we are directed to not become weary in well doing.
In Gal. 5:13 we learn that we are “called unto liberty”, but cautioned to use this liberty only “by love serve one another”. This brings to mind the question asked “who is my brother?”. We are not instructed to do good only to our brethren in Christ, but to all we come in contact with. Such joy awaits our good deeds. We feel the joy when we help a stranded motorist, or feed a hungry family, or visit a sick person. As those of you who are parents, would it be possible to forget the immeasurable joy when one of our children obeyed and put on Christ? We should also feel good when we help one in error to see God’s plan as God presented it to us. Verse 16 teaches us to “Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.” That indicates it is to be an every day way of life. Is this not a memory we each cherish in our hearts? God wants us to feel joy because we are doing well. Bearing another’s burden is well doing. Salvaging a lost soul is well doing. Proving (testing)our own works is well doing. Bearing our own burdens is also ‘doing well’. As well as teaching. (Gal. 6:1-6)
Sometimes ‘doing good’ may be challenging or even frightening. Look at Gal. 2 and notice Paul’s withstanding Peter for not walking uprightly. Surely, this was not a pleasant experience for Paul, but he ‘did well’. How often did Paul withstand error?! He gave us an additional life as an example of how we should conduct ourselves before the Lord. It is not comfortable to approach an erring brother or a co-worker and point out (in love) the error of their ways. But it is ‘doing good’.
Most importantly, we should have a mind-set of looking always about us for ways to ‘do good’. Jesus did. The apostles did. Early Christians did; else the gospel would not have gone out from Jerusalem as it did because they “went about everywhere teaching the gospel”. What example would the ‘good Samaritan’ have been if he had not stopped to help and injured man he did not know? This article is to encourage us to be filled with the Spirit and enjoy the good we can do every day. It is truly a joy to awake each day knowing we are each “a child of the King”.
What a blessed inheritance!! We also rejoice that our God is full of grace and mercy. We know that we can and will be forgiven of any error we may commit by simply asking in sincerity. What a wonderful world we live in!! I am constantly amazed at the love our God has shown us from creation to the promise of a future with him.
Let us love God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and might. Let us share the joy that we have to a measure which cannot be fully comprehended, and should not be contained. Praise our God for all these blessings and share them with everyone with whom we are in contact. Most importantly, let us enjoy being in His presence every day and follow Christ to heaven, taking as many as possible along with us. From Phil.4:4 “Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.” What greater gift could we have from our Savior? Let us rejoice in well doing.
Larry Lauderdale
