When we stand at the judgment seat of Christ, we’ll have an opportunity to hear the word ‘good’: ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.’ Note, He doesn’t say well thought, or well intentioned, but well done! We’ll be rewarded for what we do. On that day, God will take a look at our actions, not our opinions or what we only intended to do. Goodness should be on our minds the whole time. The Bible says, ‘Even small children are known by their actions, so is their conduct really pure and upright?’ (Proverbs 20:11 NIV). We know what we’re really like on the inside, but the only version of us that others see is from the outside. One Christian leader wrote: ‘Talk is cheap. No matter how much you claim to be a good person, the only public measuring stick is your actions. You may think that by being good you’re not doing a lot of good. But never underestimate the power of even one person to exert tremendous influence by simply doing the right thing, at the right place, and at the right time.’ Mother Teresa avoided the limelight. She saw herself as a servant, not a star. Her greatest desire wasn’t to be famous, but to be faithful. And as a result, she ended up touching the lives of so many people, even though her only thought was to help the next hurting person. Among her favourite Scriptures were these words given to us by Christ: ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these…of mine, you did for me’ (Matthew 25:40 NIV). So today, seek to do good.

What Now?

Think about your day yesterday. Were there any times when you thought about doing something good, but didn’t actually follow through? Today, resolve to go and do those good things, if you can.