The Lodestar

Having elaborated that life driven by the Holy Spirit must manifest the character, or the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:16—25), Paul explains that such lives are characterised by the love of the Spirit (Gal 6:1—10).

Restoring the believers who have gone astray is one of the primary responsibilities of Christian life, characterised by love in the Spirit (Gal 6:1). Believers should also bear each other’s burdens (Gal 6:2). Honouring and caring for the teachers of the Word is another important aspect of Spirit-driven love (Gal 6:6). He tops the list with instructions on doing good to fellow believers in the community of believers.

The Bible calls something good only if it fits the purpose for which it is created. The first person who called anything good was the creator God. “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness” (Genesis 1:3—4). The Lord called the light “good” because it did what it should do—push the darkness away. Without light, the earth would have remained enveloped in darkness. So, it was good. God found that all that came into existence was fit for the purpose for which he made them, so he called all, one by one, good (Genesis 1:2—25).

Thus, doing good means doing things that benefit the receiver. The opposite is doing what would hurt them. Jesus illustrated that a good father will not give his children things that are useless to them. He will not give stones when they ask for bread, no snake if they ask for fish, etc.

“Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:9—11).

Love expressed through doing good to each other begins with the “household of faith,” or the Christian community, though it never excludes others. As the axiom goes, “Charity begins at home.” Doing good begins in the Christian community and overflows to reach others outside. Doing charity in society and being nice to neighbours while part of warring groups in the church is meaningless.

The biblical ideal of local congregations is for members to lavish good things on one another, as in the case of Tabitha, who made clothes for the poor widows in her congregation (Acts 9:36— 43).

We must pray for more congregations where Spirit-driven love manifests in good works for one another and is abundant enough to overflow into the needy world.