Keep doing good

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-22

If it's not good for someone else to do, it's probably not good for you either.

Humans are emotional creatures. As such, making decisions becomes muddled with the emotions we are currently feeling and the emotions we might expect to experience. One of the best ways to hold on to what is good and make good decisions is to analyze the decision from the perspective of someone else. When you determine a course of action would be good for someone else to do, you can generally ascertain that it would be a good decision for you as well. You are not special; if a course of action would be bad for someone to pursue, it would also be a poor decision for you.

It is wrong to give up calling something good that is good.

Part of holding fast to what is good is not allowing moral relativity to change the understanding of good and evil. Continue to define good things as good and bad things as bad. When righteous Job was asked to label his righteousness as sin, he responded, “Till I die I will not put away my integrity from me. My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go; my heart shall not reproach me as long as I live.” (Job 27:5b-6). Decide to do the good things you would encourage someone else to do and remain steadfast in calling good what you have decided is good to do. When you are doing good, you will more naturally pray, rejoice and give thanks.

One I’ll do that later quickly begets another I'll do that later.

Once you have decided what is good for you to do, you have to actually get up and go do it. When talking about the second mile, Jesus said, “Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.” Matthew 5:42). Don’t be like the neighbor who waited for his neighbor to continually knock before giving what he already had in his hand (Luke 11:5-8). Since you know it is good to love your neighbor, actively love your neighbor instead of waiting for him to come begging for help. Don’t grow tired of doing what is good and continue to call good good and evil evil. If you can do good now, don’t wait until tomorrow to do it.