I try to live my life by a quite simple principle:
“Right people do the right thing because it’s the right thing to do.”
However, I am very aware that it is often easier to do wrong than it is to do right. In fact, many struggle with doing what is right because wrong is always present. This statement reminds me of the cartoon illustrations I grew up seeing, a character with an angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other shoulder, both bidding for a decision to be made.
How do we choose right when wrong is always present? The Apostle Paul said in Romans 7:15-25, “What I don’t understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So, if I cannot be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God’s command is necessary. But I need something more! For I know the law but still cannot keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I do not have what it takes. I can will it, but I cannot do it. I decide to do good, but I do not really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, do not result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time. It happens so regularly that it is predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God’s commands, but it is pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge. I have tried everything, and nothing helps. I am at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn’t that the real question? The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different.”
The Apostle Paul struggled, I have struggled, and I am sure that most, if not all of you reading this article have struggled with doing right from time to time. Oh, you have trouble believing that? Paul admitted it, I admitted it, now ask yourself if you have kept the commandment second to the greatest commandment which is, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” Who is my neighbor? I am glad you asked! Your neighbor is the one next to or near to you.
Look, it is a matter of the heart. Tiny fibers of wrong/sin woven into a heart of good. You see, what is in the root will be in the fruit. And only God, Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit can keep you from falling. Jude 1:24-25 reads, “Now unto Him (God) that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.”
If God, Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit are not keeping you, you are treading on thin ice! My favorite scripture passage comes from Proverbs 3:5-7 and it reads, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes; fear the Lord and depart from evil.”
In order to do right amid all the evil that is going on, we are going to have to truly trust in the Lord for guidance. And if the love of God is deeply rooted within our hearts, it does not matter what the enemy sows, it will not prosper.
Remember, “Right people do the right thing because it’s the right thing to do.”
God bless you,
Pastor Cooper
– Adrian is a life-long Waxahachie native. He is the pastor of Waxahachie Life Church and the owner of Future Generations Christian Child Care Center. He is passionate about the youth in our communities, and believes that investing in them is investing in the future. He and his wife, Marquita are raising 4 handsome boys.
