The Right Thing
“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9
A message that is often preached in our culture is that we need to sometimes play dirty in order to get ahead. That the “right thing” isn’t always what’s best because it can harm your status, reputation, opportunity for something, or standing with other people.
In our world, many powerful people are ones that lie, cheat or build themselves up at the expense of other people. We see people win or achieve things unfairly. It makes us angry and we think we have to play in the same fashion as others. But Paul preaches here in Galatians a message of hope and perseverance for Christians – to not become weary in doing good because God will reward us for our faith.
I think sometimes we are afraid of this idea of reward, that it makes it seem like people will love and do good for the reward and what they can get out of it. But Jesus and Paul both talk about wages and reward.
In the book A Loving Life, the author talks about this. He says, “The universe is connected in unseen ways, and what we do today is connected to the rest of our lives. Life is a path or pilgrimage. It is lived not in isolated moments, but in trajectories of reaping and sowing. Everything we do now creates the person we are becoming. We do not live in an impersonal, rigid world in which obedience mechanically dispenses reward; we live in our Father’s world, a richly textured world organized around invisible bonds that knit us together. All of life is covenant.”
I love this verse and this quote. They remind us that even though sometimes we feel like we are doing good for nothing, we are not. The Father sees and rewards us for our faith. Do not give up in doing the right thing!