Intentionally Doing Good -

Proposed Legislation

Congress is considering a bill that if passed would require every American citizen to “do good” every day.

“Say what?”

Okay, so I made that up, but what if there really was a law that required every citizen to do good?

“Wouldn’t work,” you say.

I know that you can’t legislate “good deeds” but it sure wouldn’t hurt to discuss it.

We could base our discussions on Romans Chapter 12.

⁹ Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. ¹⁰ Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. ¹¹ Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. ¹² Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. ¹³ Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. ¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. ¹⁶ Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.^[c] Do not be conceited.

¹⁷ Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. ¹⁸ If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. ¹⁹ Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”^[d] says the Lord. ²⁰ On the contrary:

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”^[e]

²¹ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

The Problem

Most of us have “To Do Lists” that are the length of several football fields. If doing good isn’t on that list, it won’t get done (unless it’s a spontaneous good deed).

A spontaneous good deed is something that happens on the spur of the moment as a result of a crisis. Example: A car crashes on the interstate and people stop and help without giving their own safety a second thought.

But what if we all looked at our “To Do List” and somewhere on that first page we penciled in at least one good deed. Then we would be intentionally doing good!

We think we don’t have time for one more thing in our day but we do…if we make it a priority.

Things like visiting a nursing home, volunteering at the animal shelter, or mentoring an at risk student all take time and planning, but what a different world we would live in if everyone intentionally did good.

I know we can’t legislate good deeds, but if those of us (and I’m talking about myself) who know to do good would stop complaining about not having enough time to get everything done and intentionally make doing good a priority– maybe the rest of the world will catch on.