What’s in it for me?
So let us not become tired of doing good; for if we do not give up, the time will come when we will reap the harvest. So then, as often as we have the chance, we should do good to everyone, and especially to those who belong to our family in the faith. (Verses 9,10)
People have varying attitudes about helping one another. Some people say, ‘You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours’. Others, having done someone a favour, say, ‘You owe me one’. Some people do things for charity but make sure everyone knows about it. Others do just as much, but no-one ever knows.
St Paul tells us we are not to ‘become tired of doing good’. He says that if we don’t give up on this, we will reap a harvest. It sounds as if even Christians, then, are in the business of doing good for what they can get out of it. But this isn’t so. Jesus made this clear when he gave his disciples his new commandment. We are to be motivated by love, and love expresses itself in action. There will be a harvest: people drawn to Christ by the love that is shown them by those who follow Jesus.
Why do good to other Christians? It’s simple. If people are to be drawn to a community of love, they need to find a loving community. And our fellow Christians have needs and problems too.
Father, help me always to show my love for you in the love I show to those around me. Amen.
by Robert Turnbull, in ‘Living Water for each Day’ (LCA, Openbook, 2001)
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