Do Good

 Friday, May 19

Do Good    

And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’. Matthew 25:40

As I read this verse today, I suddenly had a thought I’d never had before. I realized that the righteous have done good things and did not keep track of it! This scripture does not describe the righteous as saying, “Oh yes, I know! I donated to those in need, I gave of my time reading to the elderly, I worked in the soup kitchen, I gave that one a coat!” They said, “When did we do that?” See, they were just doing so they didn’t remember!

We’ve all been there. Sometimes, I’ve done a good deed for someone and felt so good about it that I still remember it. There’s a sense of, “I did the right thing in that situation!” But the best experience is when I’ve done a good deed because it was the right thing to do and forgot. Occasionally someone will say I’ve made an impact by doing something that I was not even keeping score of. It made me stop to wonder if maybe the things that we’re proud of don’t actually get credited to our account. I think it really comes down to our heart attitude. If we’re doing good from a heart that’s right, we won’t even remember it, but God does, and these are the things that He’ll credit to us.

Scripture tells us many times that God looks on the heart and it’s our heart attitude that’s important to Him. David says in Psalm 139:23, ‘Search me, God, and know my heart’.

Let’s pray that God would show us what’s in our hearts, and help us to get rid of our self-serving attitudes and motivations, so that we can do good and not keep our own records. Let’s leave it to God to record out good deeds and press on to love and serve God, and those around us.

Prayer for today: Heavenly Father, Lord, please forgive me for the times when I’ve done what I thought was right with the wrong motivation. Help me to do everything for You and for Your glory. Cleanse my heart from all selfish motives and attitudes and help me to show Your love to everyone around me. Amen.