Doing good
This week's study is on Galatians 6:6-10:
Now the one who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with the one who teaches it. Do not be deceived. God will not be made a fool. For a person will reap what he sows, because the person who sows to his own flesh will reap corruption from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit. So we must not grow weary in doing good, for in due time we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who belong to the family of faith.
These verses are just following some verses telling us to support each other in our weaknesses. In that context, he's telling us how we should behave with regards to other people, particularly other Christians. They don't just tell us not to fornicate, or guilt us into giving money to big ministries. They basically tell us to pay attention and not get lazy about caring for each other.
The first bit is about people who benefit from Bible study sharing all good things with the ones who teach Bible study. In Paul's case, as a travelling minister, he was able to fund most of his basic needs by doing side work, but not everyone was able to do that, and it didn't always cover every expense. He talks about sometimes being rich and comfortable, sometimes being poor and in need, etc. So what he seems to be saying is "Look. If someone is taking the time and energy to help you understand this stuff, and you notice they're in need of something, help them out!" It's basically an exhortation not to be selfish. It's easy to take selfless people for granted when you're selfish, because they don't always speak up for themselves. Paul is speaking up.
So then he moves on to talking about selfishness. If all you do is indulge yourself and take handouts from other people, your love is broken. How else would you be able to stand by eating ice cream in front of your hungry friend without sharing, or drive by your neighbour every morning as he's biking through snow to work without offering him a ride? If you're not doing good things and sharing good things with others, especially difficult others, you're not really demonstrating God's love and you're not really investing in the sort of character development that makes you depend on God.
In Paul's case, there were rich people and poor people in the church, and the rich people weren't necessarily helping the poor people out, or vice versa. Interestingly he doesn't talk about money, but just good things. So, for instance, if a rich guy gets a flat tire out in front of your house and his cell phone is dead, even the poorest homeless guy can step up and help the guy out in his time of need.
I think Paul deliberately doesn't mention money for two reasons. First so that we have to think outside the box a bit in terms of how we love people. But also so that we neither despise the rich nor the poor. If it was only a question of money, it would be easy to exempt the rich from our blessing and thereby marginalise them. Millionaires need love too. Money can buy sex but it can't buy love. It can only express love. But plenty of things can do that.
Paul says not to grow weary in doing good. It's easy to grow weary. If you're always helping people move, or always fixing people's computers, or always spending time listening to people complain about their miserable lives, or always buying food for poor people and paying them to get their houses and cars and bikes fixed, or always spending a day each week to prepare a thirty minute message that half of your audience texts and sleeps through, or any of the zillion ways we can express love to others in need, it's easy to grow tired.
Burnout is a big problem in charity work. You're typically underpaid and there's never a point in time where everything is fixed. And we're all charity workers once our eyes are opened to the needs of those around us. Paul says not to let yourself get burnt out. We have to make a decision to be self-aware but not self-focused. He says if we don't let ourselves get burnt out, it's all worth it in the end.
Level one of love is simply not rejecting people's cries for help. If someone asks you to give them a ride, or lend them some cash, or have a beer with them and listen to them talk about their failing company, love tries to find a way to say yes. If we never do that, we're investing in our flesh, not in spiritual things. It's a question of where your investments go. If it's "100% me", you're corrupted. So if you can manage to overcome that and answer when called, and put some money in the collection plate if you have money and the plate is passed, you're doing pretty good.
Level two is being awake to the needs of others. Paul says to do good for others whenever the opportunity presents itself. If you wait for them to ask, you're back to not helping selfless people because selfless people don't always ask. And sometimes people don't know they need help. It's easy to say "If they don't ask, I'm not going to go out of my way." But Jesus went out of his way for us.
Paul says to do good for all people, but especially for other Christians. Jesus calls us his family. We wouldn't think twice about helping our parents or siblings before some random guy on the street. Christians will be together for eternity so what better way to get to know one of our eternal friends than to meet their needs? What better way to understand Jesus, if it costs?
Think these verses over and allow Paul's words to coach you into pushing yourself to be more attentive of others' needs. It does pay off.
Now the one who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with the one who teaches it. Do not be deceived. God will not be made a fool. For a person will reap what he sows, because the person who sows to his own flesh will reap corruption from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit. So we must not grow weary in doing good, for in due time we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who belong to the family of faith.
These verses are just following some verses telling us to support each other in our weaknesses. In that context, he's telling us how we should behave with regards to other people, particularly other Christians. They don't just tell us not to fornicate, or guilt us into giving money to big ministries. They basically tell us to pay attention and not get lazy about caring for each other.
The first bit is about people who benefit from Bible study sharing all good things with the ones who teach Bible study. In Paul's case, as a travelling minister, he was able to fund most of his basic needs by doing side work, but not everyone was able to do that, and it didn't always cover every expense. He talks about sometimes being rich and comfortable, sometimes being poor and in need, etc. So what he seems to be saying is "Look. If someone is taking the time and energy to help you understand this stuff, and you notice they're in need of something, help them out!" It's basically an exhortation not to be selfish. It's easy to take selfless people for granted when you're selfish, because they don't always speak up for themselves. Paul is speaking up.
So then he moves on to talking about selfishness. If all you do is indulge yourself and take handouts from other people, your love is broken. How else would you be able to stand by eating ice cream in front of your hungry friend without sharing, or drive by your neighbour every morning as he's biking through snow to work without offering him a ride? If you're not doing good things and sharing good things with others, especially difficult others, you're not really demonstrating God's love and you're not really investing in the sort of character development that makes you depend on God.
In Paul's case, there were rich people and poor people in the church, and the rich people weren't necessarily helping the poor people out, or vice versa. Interestingly he doesn't talk about money, but just good things. So, for instance, if a rich guy gets a flat tire out in front of your house and his cell phone is dead, even the poorest homeless guy can step up and help the guy out in his time of need.
I think Paul deliberately doesn't mention money for two reasons. First so that we have to think outside the box a bit in terms of how we love people. But also so that we neither despise the rich nor the poor. If it was only a question of money, it would be easy to exempt the rich from our blessing and thereby marginalise them. Millionaires need love too. Money can buy sex but it can't buy love. It can only express love. But plenty of things can do that.
Paul says not to grow weary in doing good. It's easy to grow weary. If you're always helping people move, or always fixing people's computers, or always spending time listening to people complain about their miserable lives, or always buying food for poor people and paying them to get their houses and cars and bikes fixed, or always spending a day each week to prepare a thirty minute message that half of your audience texts and sleeps through, or any of the zillion ways we can express love to others in need, it's easy to grow tired.
Burnout is a big problem in charity work. You're typically underpaid and there's never a point in time where everything is fixed. And we're all charity workers once our eyes are opened to the needs of those around us. Paul says not to let yourself get burnt out. We have to make a decision to be self-aware but not self-focused. He says if we don't let ourselves get burnt out, it's all worth it in the end.
Level one of love is simply not rejecting people's cries for help. If someone asks you to give them a ride, or lend them some cash, or have a beer with them and listen to them talk about their failing company, love tries to find a way to say yes. If we never do that, we're investing in our flesh, not in spiritual things. It's a question of where your investments go. If it's "100% me", you're corrupted. So if you can manage to overcome that and answer when called, and put some money in the collection plate if you have money and the plate is passed, you're doing pretty good.
Level two is being awake to the needs of others. Paul says to do good for others whenever the opportunity presents itself. If you wait for them to ask, you're back to not helping selfless people because selfless people don't always ask. And sometimes people don't know they need help. It's easy to say "If they don't ask, I'm not going to go out of my way." But Jesus went out of his way for us.
Paul says to do good for all people, but especially for other Christians. Jesus calls us his family. We wouldn't think twice about helping our parents or siblings before some random guy on the street. Christians will be together for eternity so what better way to get to know one of our eternal friends than to meet their needs? What better way to understand Jesus, if it costs?
Think these verses over and allow Paul's words to coach you into pushing yourself to be more attentive of others' needs. It does pay off.
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