Behaving poorly?

So let’s not allow ourselves to get fatigued doing good. At the right time we will harvest a good crop if we don’t give up, or quit. Right now, therefore, every time we get the chance, let us work for the benefit of all, starting with the people closest to us in the community of faith. (Galatians 6:9-10)

It is easy to tire of 'doing good' when all around all we are seeing is others behaving poorly. We might want to withhold 'good' when someone does something 'not to good' to others or even to us, right? God's requirement (not recommendation) is that we don't allow ourselves to get fatigued (grow weary) in doing good. We are to continually, without ceasing, work for the benefit of all - seeing needs, meeting needs as we have the ability to do so and praying for others without ceasing.

Every time we get the chance - that doesn't mean we can 'pick and choose' when we will be a blessing to others. In other words, if they are behaving poorly, we don't get to choose to behave poorly in return. We are told to work for the benefit of all - even those who may not behave as well as we'd like to see them behave. Does that mean we support sinful actions? Absolutely not, but we can still pray for those who are acting poorly, making very unwise decisions, and are caught up in sin. 

We start with those in our own community of faith - in other words, followers of Christ. Our reach doesn't end there, though. Sometimes we treat others in the faith with more courtesy and decency than we treat those 'outside the faith', don't we? The moment we begin to do that is the moment we begin to display a 'we are better than you are' attitude. That cannot exist in God's family. We must see the needs of everyone around us, never neglecting to meet a need, even when it is a need that exists outside our community of faith. 

We never know when God's actions through us will be the very thing that changes a life forever. We might not always agree with the actions, attitudes, and even the words of others, but when we display grace, kindness, goodness, and compassion in response to their 'poor behavior', we are being examples of Christ's love for a dying world. Just sayin!