Our world is full of wickedness. We want to do good but how do we get away from the evil around us to be a positive influence?
"Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God, anyone who does what is evil has not seen God." 3 John: 11.
IS THIS A COMMAND FROM THE BIBLE?
It begins with the command, "Do not imitate..." A command is an imperative which must be followed. This command is simple, but we must still pay attention to it. Clearly, we can choose to "not do" evil and resolve to do "good;" we must not live reactionary lives where we act without weighing Gods opinion.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO IMITATE?
To imitate is to reproduce the actions of another in yourself. A student learns how to play the piano by watching the teacher put their fingers here and there and moves them so; the student then repeats all those movements and creates the same sound. With practice, the teacher's actions become the students. It is the same when we imitate evil or imitate good, we become what we imitate. We must make doing good daily practice and avoid reproducing the actions that God does not approve of.
RESOLVE
There are thousands of opportunities to "imitate evil" every day, so there are thousands of opportunities to "do good." Opportunities like a saying a kind word, a smile, a gift, a donation, a minute spent in prayer, a hug, or a warm handshake, a little note, or a helping hand. We tend to slip into doing evil, but must resolve to do "good." It takes effort and concentration and awareness.
IS GOOD FROM GOD?
Only God is good, "Anyone who does what is good is from God." Evil is not true of God's people. We should pray for God to show us the good to do and look for it. We must not let our gaze rest on evil, but fill our vision with good- with God.
WARNING
The acid test is that "Anyone who does evil has not seen God." Do we make a habit of doing evil? If we do it maybe we have never come to God in faith in the saving work of his son on the cross, and our salvation is in doubt.
Resolved to take this verse to heart and really refuse to "do evil but what is good?"
To learn more about finding a personal relationship with God then follow this link to my other blog.\
"Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God, anyone who does what is evil has not seen God." 3 John: 11.
IS THIS A COMMAND FROM THE BIBLE?
It begins with the command, "Do not imitate..." A command is an imperative which must be followed. This command is simple, but we must still pay attention to it. Clearly, we can choose to "not do" evil and resolve to do "good;" we must not live reactionary lives where we act without weighing Gods opinion.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO IMITATE?
To imitate is to reproduce the actions of another in yourself. A student learns how to play the piano by watching the teacher put their fingers here and there and moves them so; the student then repeats all those movements and creates the same sound. With practice, the teacher's actions become the students. It is the same when we imitate evil or imitate good, we become what we imitate. We must make doing good daily practice and avoid reproducing the actions that God does not approve of.
RESOLVE
There are thousands of opportunities to "imitate evil" every day, so there are thousands of opportunities to "do good." Opportunities like a saying a kind word, a smile, a gift, a donation, a minute spent in prayer, a hug, or a warm handshake, a little note, or a helping hand. We tend to slip into doing evil, but must resolve to do "good." It takes effort and concentration and awareness.
IS GOOD FROM GOD?
Only God is good, "Anyone who does what is good is from God." Evil is not true of God's people. We should pray for God to show us the good to do and look for it. We must not let our gaze rest on evil, but fill our vision with good- with God.
WARNING
The acid test is that "Anyone who does evil has not seen God." Do we make a habit of doing evil? If we do it maybe we have never come to God in faith in the saving work of his son on the cross, and our salvation is in doubt.
Resolved to take this verse to heart and really refuse to "do evil but what is good?"
To learn more about finding a personal relationship with God then follow this link to my other blog.\
(c)Adron Dozat 5/11/11
