To Do-ers List: Always do Good

Day 6

To Do-ers List: Always do Good

15 “See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good to each other and to all people.

16 Always be joyful. 17 Never stop praying.”

1 Thessalonians 5:15

There was a saying when I was growing up, “It’s payback time.” Eye for an eye. Tooth for a tooth. If someone did something to you, you did it back to them and then some. It was the law of the street. One of the problems with paybacks, however, is they never end. The cycle of hatred churns and escalates.

Hatfield and McCoys.

Cain and Able.

Notre Dame and Michigan.

Do we even remember what we are fighting about?

God has a different idea.

Do good. Always do good. Instead of payback, pay-it-forward. Good for evil. Blessings replace cursing. Help instead of hate. Always do good.

Why?

Because that’s what God does; it’s who He is. It’s what He did for us. While we were yet sinners, Jesus died on the cross for us. We were enemies of God by our wicked works and He died for us. What if He had waited for us to do something GOOD until He did something good? He’d still be waiting while we spent eternity in hell.

What is good?

In the Greek, good translates as agathos, which means good, pleasant, agreeable, joyful, happy, honorable, upright, excellent. Part of the word means sacrifice. To always do good, we must

sacrifice our right to be angry, our right to be hurt, and our right to be bitter.

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It’s part of the abundant life.

This one is hard for me. Really hard. I learned and lived by the law of the street. I can payback like the rest of ’em. It’s a wonderful witness when you convey a rude gesture and have a fish sticker on the back of your mini-van. I still struggle with it today. Why? Pride. I’m better. I act better. I think better. How dare you do that to ME. It’s ugly and sinful. But, by the power of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God, I’m making progress.

Long time ago I came across the following maxim:

Satan repays good with evil;

Man repays evil with evil and good with good;

God repays evil with good.

Always do good.

It’s a choice we make … to love instead of hate, to bless instead of curse, to always do good. We were created in the image of God. Like Father, like daughter. He is good; therefore, we must always do good.

For Today:

Today will be tough. Look for ways to do good to those who aren’t good to you. Doing good to another can be a kind deed, graceful words, or prayerful thoughts. Look to do good to everyone, regardless of how they treat you. Do we always do good because others deserve it? No, we always do good because it’s the right thing to do.

Use the To-Doers List Study Guide or a journaling app to plan and journal your day.

To Do-ers List Journal Study Guide PDF
Days Lite: My Wonderful Life App free app from App Store.

For ideas on how to always do good, please check the resources below.

Overcoming Evil with Good

If you missed a few days, you can catch up by clicking the links below.

To Do-ers List, Day 1: Love God

To Do-ers List, Day 2: Love Others

To Do-ers List, Day 3: Pray ’bout Everything

To Do-ers List: Day 4: Walk by Faith

To Do-ers List: Day 5: Word in Me

Please take a moment to pray and ask God for His strength to do good to everyone you meet today (and the people you live with). Don’t forget to leave a comment in the comment section below. Please remember, Jane and I have been praying for you. Have a blessed day!

by Mary Kane

1 Thessalonians Part 15, A Life of Faith: Operation Sanctification

Insightful … cute … smart … funny … quixotic!

Think of words you’d use to describe yourself. Would you ever consider describing yourself as a “most holy thing”? Me either, but God does. Because of the cross, we have been washed clean (sanctification) by the blood of Christ. The process of sanctification is not a quick fix. Sanctification continues as long as we continue to draw breath.

Thankfully, we are not responsible for our sanctification. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit work together to wash away every sin and stain. Our sanctification is accomplished by His word, circumstances, prayer, and discipleship. Operation Sanctification … God’s going deep!

To do 1 Thessalonians A Life of Faith, Part 15: Operation Sanctification, please click on the link below.

A Life of Faith, Part 15: Operation Sanctification

1 Thessalonians A Life of Faith, Part 14: More and More by Mary Kane

As Americans, we live in a culture of more, where enough is never enough. We want more money, more house, more car, more technology, and more status. The “next big thing” is still not enough. Americans want more and more. All of this striving for more and more does lead to a net gain of more and more debt, more and more stress, more and more aggravation, and more and more dissatisfaction. Seeking more and more of the American Dream leaves us empty, drained, and depressed.

There is one thing, however, we can have more and more of that will not leave us empty– God. The more and more we seek the Kingdom of God the more and more He will bless us and transform us into the image of His Son. God is waiting and longing to pour out more and more of His spirit upon His children so we can minister to the lost and hurting, make disciples of all nations, and bring God great glory.

More and more God … more and more grace, peace, love and righteousness.

To do part 14 of the A Life of Faith, please click on the link below.

1 Thessalonians, Part 14: More and More

For related articles please click on the following links:

The Stuff Monster

Making Room for God

1 Thessalonians A Life of Faith, Part 13: Pray and Perfect

9 For what thanks can we render to God for you, for all the joy with which we rejoice for your sake before our God, 10 night and day praying exceedingly that we may see your face and perfect what is lacking in your faith. 1 Thessalonians 3:10

Picture perfect … practice makes perfect. These well-known idioms are part of American culture. People long for perfection. Perfectionism is a cruel task master, especially when one is … well, …imperfect. Despite our flawed condition, we continue to seek perfection. We work, strive, and labor for perfect test scores, perfect teeth, perfect children, the perfect job, the perfect wedding, the perfect vacations, the perfect house, the perfect outfit, etc. We try everything except the one thing that will help achieve our goal–prayer. Prayer, however, helps us not to be perfect, but to be perfected. Biblical perfection is very different from the human idea of perfection.

What does perfection have to do with a life of faith? The Bible does have a good deal to say about perfection,

“Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” Matthew 5:48

Whew! That sounds like a perfect impossibility until we read,

“I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.” John 17:23

and,

“Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.” Colossians 1:28

God’s plan in for man to be perfected, but Biblical perfection will not be achieved apart from Christ. To learn how to be perfected, please click on the link below.

A Life of Faith, Part 13: Pray and Perfect

1 Thessalonians A Life of Faith, Part 12: Stand Firm by Mary Kane

“Maybe I should … maybe I shouldn’t. I think I will, but then again, maybe I won’t. Nope. Yep. Final decision. I most definitely probably won’t.”

Have you ever had a conversation like the above with a friend, co-worker, family member … yourself? Have you ever had trouble making a firm decision; swinging back and forth from choice “A” to choice “B” like the pendulum of a clock? Tick-tock, tick-tock, yes-no, maybe so.

I must admit I have had trouble trying to stand firm concerning decisions. Most of my wobbliness could be traced back to one deadly sin: people pleasing. In the not so distant past, my “stand firm” decisions were quickly toppled by one opinion contrary to my own. I was as firm as Jello at a July picnic.

My lack of ability to stand firm has cost me plenty (stress, wasted time, consequences, REGRET). After much prayer, soul searching and the storing-up of God’s Word in my heart, I am learning to stand firm, but not on my own two feet. I now stand firm upon the Rock.

To learn what it means to stand firm, and continue our study in 1 Thessalonians, A Life of Faith, please click on the link below.

1 Thessalonians Part 12: Stand Firm

1 Thessalonians A Life of Faith, Part 10: The Word

Before the days of email, texting and social media, people wrote letters. As a young girl, I had a few pen-pals; good friends who live far away with whom one corresponds via traditional postal mail. In order to create beautiful letters, I spent my allowance on beautiful stationary, sealing wax and stamps.

The coming of the mailman was an event. Those who are over the age of 40 understand the thrill of a mailman approaching the house with hands filled with letters — especially love letters. The greatest love letter in the world was written thousands of years ago. The letter containspart 10 of A Life of Faith, please click on the link below.