Week 30 | Week Do Good Things

Middle school can be some of the best years and some of the toughest years for young athletes. So many changes happen in middle school, and you have to know who you are and who you want to be so that you are ready to deal with those changes in a productive way.

In my first year coaching middle school sports, all of the coaches who were there before me kept telling me about this kid named ‘Madi.’ Madi was now in high school, but they told me about how Madi’s presence completely changed the school.

Madi was a star athlete, but her genuine 'goodness' on and off the court is what transformed the school. They said that Madi was such a good, nice, and humble person that others started being the same way.

It wasn’t always easy for Madi. Madi didn’t curse, she didn’t talk back, and she was a peacemaker and not a fighter. At first, people would tease Madi and try to get her to do things she didn’t want to do, but Madi would just smile and handle herself gracefully and continued to be who she knew she was. Eventually, more and more people wanted more of what Madi had, and more and more people started asking her about Jesus and coming to FCA.

I didn’t have the pleasure of coaching Madi, but I felt her presence at the campus she was no longer at. If you don’t know where you are going, any path will get you there. When you know who you are and who you want to be, it makes your path, decisions, and actions clear. Madi knew who she was and who she wanted to be, and her identity drove everything she did. 

She was a good person who did good things no matter what other people were doing or saying around her.

In Matthew 12, Jesus is walking through some grainfields with His disciples when they are confronted by some Pharisees. Jesus and His disciples were hungry, so they began breaking off some heads of grain and eating them, but it was on the Sabbath, the Holy Day of rest, and the Pharisees claimed they were breaking the law because they were harvesting on the Sabbath.

Not only did Jesus remind them that Moses and the priests were allowed to work on the Sabbath and that King David and his people broke the law by eating the sacred loaves of bread on the Sabbath, Jesus also healed two men: a man with a deformed hand, and then a demon-possessed man who was blind and couldn’t speak.

Because of this, the Pharisees said Jesus gets his power from Satan, the prince of demons.

Jesus said to them:

“If you had a sheep that fell into a well on the Sabbath, wouldn’t you work to pull it out? Of course you would. And how much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Yes, the law permits a person to do good on the Sabbath." (Matthew 12:11-12)

He then said:

“A tree is identified by its fruit. If a tree is good, its fruit will be good. If a tree is bad, its fruit will be bad. You brood of snakes! How could evil men like you speak what is good and right? For whatever is in your heart determines what you say. A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak. The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you."(Matthew‬ ‭12:33-37‬‬‬)

Madi made the decision to be a good person who does good things, but the things around her didn’t change immediately. Every day she had to remind herself to do good things because bad things are all around us. 

This story about Jesus reminds me of my favorite Martin Luther King Jr quote, “The time is always right to do what’s right.” Jesus ate and healed even on the Sabbath. He healed because it was the right thing to do.

Good things happen to good people. Make a decision to do good things today, and every day. It won’t always be easy. There will be bad things happening all around you. People will even talk about you - like the Pharisees did Jesus.

But you will be known by your fruits - the good things that you do every day.

THIS WEEK

1 - Make a commitment to doing good things for people. What is one thing that you will do this week that is good for others?

2 - Doing good things is not always an easy thing to do. What is an obstacle that keeps you from doing good things?

3 - What is a Bible verse or someone you know who can inspire you or help you overcome those boundaries?

God, I want to be a person who is known for doing good things, but I know that temptation is all around me in many forms. This week, help me to see, think, say, and do good things. In Jesus' name, Amen.

For a Google doc version of this, click here: Do Good Things