Good Deeds

This may come as a surprise to some of you but doing good deeds does not come naturally to people. This is true if you are lost and it is still true if you are saved. If it came easy or naturally to Christians then Paul would not have taught Titus that church going folks need to learn to engage in good deeds. So if Christians must be taught to do good deeds, then how are we to accomplish this?

I think it begins with Christian leaders setting the example. We as leaders must be willing to do those things that we know to right and true even when it makes us uncomfortable or nervous. We must be willing to do it even when we do not necessarily want to do it. We must be willing to do it even if others around us are not willing to do it. If leaders were to consistently do this then I believe that those in our local congregations would eventually follow in their footsteps. I believe that in watching God work through those good deeds people would drawn to God's activity. This could eventually create a snowball effect that would begin to spread beyond one congregation. In the end if leaders are willing to do the hard work then others will eventually follow. I believe this is why men like Titus and Timothy were willing to hard things. They had seen their mentor Paul do even harder things all for the sake of the Gospel.

I also think this goes beyond church leaders. I think a tremendous amount of responsibility falls on parents to teach their children to do good deeds. Parents must seek ways to involve their children in ministry and helping others. It is these experiences that will build a foundation for decades of Godly service. In my family we have started doing what we call family ministry. Family ministry means that whenever possible we look for ways for all four (yes the 3 and 2 year old can do ministry) of us to be involved in ministry. Some times this means things take longer but this extra time is worth it.

So what good deeds have you done today? Who are you intentionally trying to teach about doing good deeds? How can you and your family do ministry together?