Who doesn’t want to do good? There’s an innate feeling within each and every one of us that we want to do good even though we live in a fallen world.
Talk to anyone on the street. You’ll be hard pressed to find someone who truly wants to do evil.
Image by Noah G.
While most people want to do good, they find it hard to continuously do good. Eventually they become weary and worn out.
There’s an interesting scripture in the Bible (I know, not all of you believe in the Bible. If you’re someone who doesn’t, please bear with me). Galatians 6:9 recognizes the fact doing good can make us weary. Here it is:
“Let us not grow weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
Whoa! Even the Bible tells us there’s the possibility of us growing weary and giving up. All from doing good. Crazy, eh?
So, this raises the question, How can we do good without growing weary and giving up? That’s a question for the ages but I want to give you advice on what’s worked for me.
In fact, I’ve found there are 3 R’s to not growing weary. So, let’s check out how to not grow weary.
Rest: Why do so many people get weary in doing good? I believe it’s due to them pushing all the time without stepping back to rest.
Our bodies weren’t designed to go 24/7. We were designed to take periods of rest, typically 8 hours of sleep a night, to function at optimal performance.
Get ready to step back and set yourself up for a period of rest. When you do, you’ll be able to step back into doing good, refreshed and renewed.
Record: For some reason we easily forget our wins yet can recall our losses with great ease. We let one failure destroy any and all good we’ve done.
Let’s great ready to destroy the power our losses hold over us. You can do this by recording your wins so they won’t be forgotten.
Get out a pen and paper, maybe your Moleskin. Crack that bad boy open and begin recalling everything positive that has come from doing good.
Write, write, and write some more. If you run out of positive results, pause for a few moments so your mind can rest (see, here rest comes into play already). Once your mind has rested, begin writing again. I’m sure you’ll have a lengthy list!
Now you’ll be able to go back and see a written record of all the good things that have come about from you doing good. Keep this record close, you never know when you’ll need to be reminded of the great work that has been done.
Relationships: Doing good alone can be a cause of weariness. When we’re all by ourselves, we struggle to see progress and we have a hard time overcoming the negative feelings we may have over a rough patch.
This is where relationships come in.
The old song Lean On Me comes to mind here. Life will get tough but if we have relationships with others, we’ll be able to lean on them when we’re struggling and weary.
Find two to three people who can help hold you up when you’re weary. Don’t forget, you can return the favor, and do good, by helping them do the same.
Know there will be times when you may grow weary doing good. It happens to the best of us. Even if we practice the 3 R’s of not growing weary in doing good.
However, when you learn to Rest, take the time to Record, and build the Relationships that will sustain you, you will discover it’s much easier to continue doing good than if you didn’t do these things.
Question: How do you continue to do good without growing weary? Please share your helpful tips in the comment section below.
Please note: I reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive or off-topic.