Goodness (1)

“The integrity of the honest keeps them on track; the deviousness of crooks brings them to ruin.” Proverbs 11:3 MSG

Did you know there’s a correlation between goodness and the national economy? One Christian author wrote that when, in public and private life, “lying, laziness, irresponsibility, dishonesty, and corruption become commonplace, the national economy grinds down.” A society that produces white-collar criminals and blue-collar predators shells out hundreds of dollars a day to keep offenders incarcerated. A society with rampant drug abuse has to pay for drug treatment centres. Broken families mean more foster homes and more students who drop out of school, who can’t hold down a job, and who get locked into generational cycles of welfare. The less goodness there is, the more the government has to intervene—and the higher the cost to society. Just as moral goodness leads to tremendous social and economic benefits, the collapse of morality comes with an enormous social and economic price tag. You say, “But I’m only one person. What can I do?” Jesus answers, “Let your light…shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16 NKJV). St. Francis of Assisi said, “All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle.” Instead of complaining about the darkness, let your light shine wherever you go. John Wesley, founder of the Methodist church, said, “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.” If every redeemed child of God lived by that formula, we could turn society upside down—or right side up.

Bible in a year: 2 King 17-18 and Acts 11