Do Good, Even When You’re Not Feeling It (Galatians 6:9-10)
- Candice Watters
- Jun 22
- 4 min read
Updated: 7 days ago
[And] let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. ¹⁰So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. —Galatians 6:9-10
“Have a good day.” “I’m good.” “It’s all good.” We say we are good a lot in our everyday conversations. Typically it’s in response to questions from people we don’t have enough time or relationship with to answer deeply. But in urging the Galatian church to do good to one another, Paul is going deep into what it means to be Christians together.
Theologically, we are not good, that’s why we need Jesus. But once He saves us, He commands us to do good out of the overflow of His power at work within us. In Galatians 6, Paul is telling the Galatians about the good deeds they must do–not to earn eternal life–but because they have eternal life.
This could sound contradictory to something Jesus said in Luke 6:33: “And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.” But consider the context. Jesus is talking about the sort of doing good that either costs us nothing or gets us something. He’s describing the buddy-buddy benefits that come with blessing someone you already like out of your excess. He goes on to say, “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful” (6:35-36).
Paul is affirming what Jesus commands. He says do good to everyone, but especially those in the church. Doing good to one another in the church is costly and sacrificial. It makes claims on our time, attention, and resources. It requires something of us toward people who sit beside us in the pew. Even those we don’t “click” with and those we wouldn’t seek out for friendship are precious fellow heirs of the kingdom with us. These are the ones Christ died to save. For His sake, we are to show kindness to these very ones, and make efforts to do good to them. It includes bearing with one another (Colossians 3:13), working in order to have enough for your own family and something extra to share with those in need (Ephesians 4:28), listening patiently when a fellow member describes relational hardships, physical suffering, or temptations to sin, and praying with them for restoration, healing, and deliverance (James 5:16).
This can take various forms in a week of faithful “one anothering”: making a meal for a church member who had a baby or is going in for surgery, donating to the church adoption or benevolence funds, opening your home for a Bible study or small group meeting, volunteering in the nursery or children’s ministry, lending your car to someone, or babysitting for overwhelmed young parents. Doing good means meeting practical needs—physical and spiritual—at some personal cost, because you love the person you’re serving. This isn’t the emotional love that acts because you feel like it, but the obedient love that acts because you want to obey God’s command to love. This is the love that is evidence to the world that we belong to Christ (John 13:35).
We know we won’t always feel like doing good because Paul urges us not to grow weary and not to give up doing it. By God’s grace, feelings of affection for the person you’re serving often do flow as you seek to serve them in love. But it’s still loving to serve, even when you don’t feel like it. When we push through weariness, Paul says, “in due season we will reap.” In the age to come, certainly, we will be rewarded for our good deeds done as unto the Lord. But even in this life, we see the benefits of loving the brothers (and sisters). A church whose members serve one another in love is a community marked by sweet fellowship, growing friendships, and perseverance in the faith as we exhort and encourage one another to walk in a manner worthy of the gospel. It is a glimpse of the coming kingdom.
God is good and does good (Psalm 119:68). When we do good, we bear the family resemblance, and God gets the glory.
For Reflection
Paul defines our doing good, not by our giftings or inclinations, but merely by having the opportunity. What opportunities have you had this week to do good? Have you taken them?
What need can you meet in the life of a fellow church member today?
Ask God to make you more aware of the needs around you and to empower you to fill them.
Candice Watters is the editor of Fighter Verses. She and her husband Steve direct Kids Camp (VBS)—most recently God Always Wins—for their church in Louisville, KY. Together they authored Start Your Family: Inspiration for Having Babies. The Watterses are the parents of four young adults.
