Thankfulness is still important. Our beliefs don’t allow us to blame God. People are still free to decide and act in ways that cause consequences to other people. But God is so powerful that even in the midst of terrible times, He still gets good things done.
Paul writes that the generosity of the church in Corinth is what prodded the Macedonians to put their faith into action. Generosity is not under duress, but it comes from the heart, and it comes from free will. As Christians, our generosity is our currency.
In Matthew 5, Jesus reminds us that it’s not important to make vows or oaths, but to keep your word. Say your “yes,” and make sure you stick to your word. If we’re made to do good things, that comes from spiritual transformation inside our hearts.
Do we really want to do good? We like the idea of being generous, doing good, praying more, or giving more. That’s where we need to change how we think, so we can have mature faith. Instead of wanting to do good because it sounds good, we need to want to do good because that’s really what we want.
