Thankless Serving

Friends, I want to be honest with you in two areas here. First, I did not have tea or coffee today. Nope. Instead I made a clean chocolate shake and I enjoyed every last drop of it. Second, I have come to the end of this school/ministry year feeling rather exhausted. The trials seem to be a bit relentless and the joy sometimes seems to be a bit lacking. Those are the very reasons that this month’s promise is so refreshing and encouraging to my soul, and I hope it is for you, too.
Galatians 6:9-10 holds the precious promise we’ll be looking at today. It says, “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith”. So let’s break this verse down. First, we are commanded to not grow weary of doing good. Easy for them to say, you might be thinking, right? They don’t have your family, or your coworkers, or your thankless job. I beg to differ… Paul had a pretty rough go at it and if anyone should have felt weary in doing good I think it would be him. None of us have had to live through beatings, shipwrecks, and imprisonments, all on the basis of doing good. So take heart; you don’t have it as bad as Paul! Take heart also in knowing that we will reap if we do not give up. Our good works may seem like they are going completely unnoticed or unappreciated. While our goodness may not be recognized here on earth, know that whether in this life or the next you will receive the reward. Next, make it your goal to do good to everyone, since you will see the results if you do not give up. This is honestly so hard to do! There are some people that I am convinced just do not want to have anyone’s help or graciousness in their lives. Others are just not good at expressing their gratitude for your hard work and selfless efforts. What happens then? Paul encourages us to keep pressing on. Serve them with good even when you feel like they don’t deserve it. Lastly, make it your goal to serve those in the Church to the utmost. Why does Paul make it a point to say “especially those of the household of faith”? Sometimes I think it is most difficult to serve those in the Body of Christ because we don’t expect to be hurt by them, so when the unexpected happens our immediate response is to stop serving them completely. We are all messy and I’m sure we’ve all been humbly served and responded in not-so-tasteful ways. So Paul is encouraging us to continue serving our fellow saints well. Of all people we would expect as much as a simple “thank you” from other believers, and when that does not happen it can be extremely discouraging. Yet again, press on. Continue serving and doing good without giving up.

The great promise here is that the Lord will notice and repay, allowing us to reap the benefit of our good works. Press on in the hardships, dear ones. Your kindness will not go unnoticed forever. 

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