Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.
I am not sure Wesley ever communicated our second community agreement exactly like that, even though it was attributed to him. Even so, it’s a clear way to remember what it means to be in the business of doing good.
But there’s more. Doing all the good we can is our response to the grace we receive. And not only that, we are made for this. That’s what the book says. “By grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God — not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what God has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good things, which God prepared beforehand so that we may walk in them.”
Just pause for a moment and think about that little morsel. God made you for goodness, to walk in goodness, and to live your life doing good. No need to wait to be asked, recruited, or cajoled. Right now, you can do what is good, true, right, healthy, healing, unifying, life-giving, or any number of a thousand and one things to be a participant in God’s activity of a love that does good. Our families, schools, communities, relationships, and, yes, church, provide the perfect context for all this goodness to be unleashed.
You are made for this!
Two questions to reflect on this week:
- In my thoughts, words, or actions, where (or to whom) was I able to do good today?
- Where do I see the potential to do good tomorrow?
Much love,
Pastor Gregg
