Doing Good with All We Have

“Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due [its rightful recipients], when it is in your power to do it. Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come back, and tomorrow I will give it,” when you have it with you. Do not devise evil against your neighbor, who lives securely beside you.

Do not quarrel with a man without cause, if he has done you no harm. Do not envy a man of violence and do not choose any of his ways. For the devious are repulsive to the Lord; but His private counsel is with the upright [those with spiritual integrity and moral courage].” (Proverbs 3: 27-31, AMP)

Back in 2015, I was studying abroad in Cape Town, South Africa. While I was there, my grandma and mom made a trip to come and visit. During their stay we went and did so many things that I’ll remember as long as I live, but one day was dedicated totally to climbing Table Mountain. We chose to hike via Platteklip Gorge, an “easy” trail that is about three kilometers of endless switchbacks of steps. 

For three very inexperienced hikers, we very much underestimated the difficulty of the trail. And we were under-prepared. We easily ran out of water about a quarter-way into the hike. As we took frequent breaks– did I mention it was all steps?– we were keeping pace with a man that said he was hiking with his friends, but they all left him behind.

Eventually, he saw the shape we were in and how all of us were desperate for a drink of water. He offered us a bottle of water from his pack, saying his friends all left him anyway. I wouldn’t say we were “due” this small act of kindness, but that drink of water has never left my memory. That guy had the power to do good, and chose to do good with the resources he had. He could have easily kept his water to himself, but he saw a need and filled it, even if we were strangers to him.

Solomon advises Christians to do good when it’s within your power to do it. We should be kind to our neighbor, not plotting against them. We shouldn’t pick fights with others over trivial or menial things. As Christians, we don’t have excuses to be petty. We are to do good to other people, even if they annoy us. We are to act towards others in love, even if we don’t think they deserve it.

If there is righteous cause– if someone is sinning against God or acting in a hurtful manner– then yes, we are to speak up about evil or wrongdoing. But as long as we have the ability to do good for someone else, we should. Whether or not we deem them worthy. 

Because we were not worthy of the goodness of God. We were dead in our sin and our flesh, content to continue on rebelling against the Lord. Without His Holy Spirit, we have no hope of acting in God’s kindness, no power to desire His character and imitate it. We were undeserving of His salvation and mercy. We were unable to redeem ourselves in our own strength, but only by God’s Spirit– our most valuable resource and blessing.

Which is why we cannot be the judge of who should receive or not receive our kindness or care. If it’s within our power to help someone or give something we can spare, why not do it? 

If you don’t blink twice to give a whole Thanksgiving meal to a stranger every year, why would you withhold the same generosity to your neighbor, if you knew they had the same need?

What it boils down to is that we are not to mimic the unbeliever. We don’t repay hurts with hurts. Christianity does not dole out justice based on “an eye for an eye” mentality. We’re not even supposed to envy a man who acts outside of God’s justice. We are not to imitate an unbeliever in any way, even if the unbeliever’s method causes them success or prosperity. 

I’m not talking in a legalistic sense. I am referring to acting in an attractional sense that may go against what God has asked of those who follow Him. We are supposed to be set apart and sanctified. We are supposed to let the Lord give or take away. We should not look to the world for inspiration or encouragement. We should be setting our eyes on Christ, rooting ourselves in God’s word, and hiding that word within our hearts– living by those precepts and in reverent worship of Him.

If we do, God’s counsel will not be far from us. Trusting in the Lord will refine in us spiritual integrity and moral courage. It causes us to live righteously and in a way that delights the Lord. Those who do not care for God’s word and devise evil against others could never earn God’s mercy; they are scorned by Him.

So if you see someone in need, and you have the means to fill that need, we are called to fill it– in a timely manner, with a joyful heart, and in the name of Jesus. In doing so, we are Jesus to those who need Him, we are extending God’s grace to people who very well might be searching for Him.

Do good. With all that you have, honor God. Whether it’s convenient or not.