Why Do You Do What You Do?

I wrote this several months back.  I hope it can be a help and blessing to you--and an encouragment to DO RIGHT.

 

Let's face it, we are humans, and as humans we need to see results.  We KNOW that we should do the right thing all the time even when no one is watching; we've all heard the definition of character: character is doing the right thing even when no one else knows; we all know that we should do the right thing because that is what God demands.  But let's be realistic:  do you ever grow impatient when your tomato plant doesn't produce tomatoes as quickly as you'd hoped?  Do you always discipline your children because it's the right thing to do or sometimes in anger because they are driving you crazy?  Or do you always pray because you desire to commune with God or just because you want something?  Or do you always go to church on Wednesday night because you desire fellowship with other believers and growth in the Word or perhaps because other people will notice and wonder at your absence?   Or do you go the speed limit just because you want to obey the law?  Isn't it more because you don't want to get caught and thereby get a ticket?  Aha.  See.  I'm right, aren't I? We do or don't do things because of the results obtained. 

 

So, what happens when your child is still disobeying and you're exhausted from disciplining?  Do you quit?  Do you quit praying when God doesn't seem to answer?  Do you quit going to church because no one seems to talk to you anyway?  Do you drive at reckless speeds because you know there are no cops out?  Do you give up and eat with total abandon because you don't see a weight loss on the scale?  Unfortunately, I know people that have reacted in that manner in each of those areas (including myself!).  Why? Because we are sinners, and we just don't always do right for the sake of doing right.


Do we always see immediate results from our actions?  No.  In reality we don't.  I've never been stopped by the police and thanked for going the speed limit. I've never been stopped by the police for speeding (yet, I admit, I have.)  My student's don't always respond instantly and obediently when I reprimand them.  I don't always see immediate spiritual growth from reading the Word, praying, or going to church.  However, on the long-term, over time, after months of seeming-less no results something happens.  The tomato eventually turns red, the child eventually learns obedience and peace reigns, I find myself relishing my relationship with God, and I have not had any fatal accidents caused by my recklessness.  It's really quite simple.  The Scriptures admonish us:  So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. (James 4:17, ESV).  Immediate visible results?  Rarely.  Long-lasting results?  Always.

Don't quit just because you did right and didn't get the desired immediate effect.  Do right not because you (or someone else) will see and reward, but because God says: whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.