Do Good...Due Good?

Most people believe that if you, do good, “good” will eventually come to you. But what if this idea wasn’t true. What if there wasn’t a promised “good” to you after your good deeds? What if at the end of doing what was right there was no reward? No good feelings of accomplishment, no higher moral ground, no karma returned, or reward waiting in the wings.

What if good’s reward was not in the outcome of doing good but in the act of it?

I often have great conversations with my 8 year old. She’s become a master at “doing the right thing…” However, she is extremely offended when doing what is right, doesn’t render more favorable results. Here’s an instance:

A few weeks ago she achieved a great accomplishment at school. Per usual, I rewarded her with a treat. After she received it, she noticed that her little sister was without, and wasn’t happy about it. In true Taylor fashion, she offers her treat to Maliah. Now normally I would step in and notice Taylor’s good deed, and reward her even more for being so generous to her sister. However, this time I decided to do nothing. I didn’t acknowledge it, or tell her “that was nice of you.” I just carried on as usual. After the first hour I noticed Taylor getting a bit confused that I seemed to not care. As the day progressed and it became evident that I wasn’t going to acknowledge her “good deed” I noticed a shift in how she treated her sister. Bitterness began to creep in. She began to realize that someone else was playing with a toy, she earned. By the end of the day, she confronted me and insisted that I buy her a new toy because she had given her’s to her sister.

Now doesn’t this sound familiar? How many times have we made demands that God “release our blessings” or reward us for our self righteous deeds. As believers we have developed a sense of entitlement that is reminiscent of a child. We expect our good to eventually be rewarded, the way we believe it should.

If our honesty doesn’t render justice then we are discontent. If our faithfulness doesn’t render acknowledgement then we are unsettled. And if our good given, doesn’t render good received then we are lost.

As children we are taught that doing that right thing will always pay off in the end. More specifically in the church, we are taught that “blessings” i.e. cars, houses, checks in the mail, are due us. Now there are many scriptures that can validate that God rewards those that are faithful to Him, and wealth is stored up for His children, but I think some of us have forgotten that as we grow in faith, our hearts desires should be shifting closer to His. Meaning that we should be growing out of receiving treats! However, most of us have become so entitled to our blessings that we have created developmental delays in our spiritual growth.

Although God has told us to “come as little children” he never told us to not grow up. When believers “grow up” our desires should shift from a sense of entitlement to a sense of responsibility.

Responsibility becomes responsibility’s own reward.

Matthew 5:45 says, “That ye be the children of your faith which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

So basically, if you are looking for assurance that your good deeds are valued by God, you shouldn’t look for rain, you should look for change.

“The goal of Christianity is transformation…” – Dan Mohler