For Goodness Sake
When Peter was preaching to the household of Cornelius, he began by introducing and describing Jesus. The virtues and power of Christ are truly numerous beyond measure. The one Peter chose is as follows: “…God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.” (Acts 10:38) From this verse, I would like to focus on the healing power of doing good.
Even non-believers often do good to others. It should then for certain be the pattern and practice of those who follow Christ. When Jesus was preaching the Sermon on the Mount, he described his followers as salt and light. He said, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16) By so doing we bring good to others and glory to God. No one is saved by good works, but you may never know how much healing grace there is in one simple act of goodness. The good we do must be modeled after Christ and motivated by love. In the famous love chapter of I Corinthians 13, we are reminded that all the good deeds in the world are of no profit without love.
As with Jesus, the power to do good with the proper motivation comes by the anointing of God’s Spirit. As the Spirit teaches us more and more about the goodness of God toward us, we find the freedom to pass it on to others. The dictionary lists well over fifty usages of good in one form or another. I like the synonyms: right, proper, kind and friendly. When we practice these virtues, we emulate the goodness of Christ, Heed these words to the church: “And let us not get tired of doing what is right, for after a while we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t get discouraged and give up. That’s why whenever we can we should always be kind to everyone, and especially to our Christian brothers. (Galatians 6:9-10 TLNT)
-Terry Morrison