Deep down everybody wants to do good. Unfortunately, we fail more often than not. Let’s not give up though! In the end, our efforts will have been worthwhile. Here is a how-to guide from a recent service.
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Photo: NAC Haiti
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Photo: NAC Haiti
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Photo: NAC Haiti
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Photo: NAC Haiti
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Photo: NAC Haiti
The motto was set by the Bible text: “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart” (Galatians 6: 9). This is the Bible text Chief Apostle Jean-Luc Schneider used on 23 June 2019 in Léogâne (Haiti).
Sowing
Doing good? What exactly does that mean? The Chief Apostle listed five principles.
- Keeping the commandments: sometimes we are practically tempted to not keep the commandments, for example, when we see how people lie and cheat and then still have success. “Remember Joseph. He remained faithful to His God. God blessed him in the end. And he was able to be a source of blessing for his brothers.”
- Acting out of love for God: we must keep the commandments also when no one is watching us, because the point is not to please other people, but to please God. “And if we do good it is to prove to God that we love Him.”
- Working on our salvation: God began His good work in us by giving us the gift of the Holy Spirit. Now it is up to us to nourish this life through prayer and the word of God. Sometimes we might get the impression that the sermons are really always the same. It helps to concentrate on individual aspects and make a conscious effort to act accordingly. “Every week you will discover a new task for the next week.”
- Giving love without expecting anything in return: doing good means loving our neighbour and doing good things for him even if we receive nothing in return. “We love our neighbour not because we want him to love us, but because God’s love has been laid into us, and because it is God’s nature to love.”
- Serving God irrespective of whether we are successful or not: God looks at the effort and not at the results that are achieved. “Remember the parable of the talents. The only one who was punished was the one who had done nothing.”
Harvesting
Those who do not tire of doing good will reap in due course, the Chief Apostle made clear.
- Those who love God can be sure that they will receive what they need for the salvation of their soul.
- Those who accept the word and put it into practice will reap one day, and far more than they ever expected. However, the spiritual process takes time, and God keeps time differently than we humans do.
- Already today God offers us His joy and His peace.
- Often we only realise in hindsight that God’s help came at just the right time.
- The return of the Lord will neither be too soon nor too late. “He will come just in time.”
“Don’t become weary of doing good,” the Chief Apostle appealed in conclusion. “Because it is God Himself who promises you: ‘You will never regret it.’”