Walking in the Valley A bi-weekly column, featuring one Silicon Valley Christian's (a)musings on life's journey by Barbara Dahlgren

Doing the Right Thing for the Right Reason Column for the weeks of July 16-31, 2009

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Most of us want to go through life doing the right thing, which is not always the easiest course of action. What is popular is not always right and what is right is not always popular. However, when faced with a difficult choice we need to do the right thing because it’s the right thing to do.

As Christians, we need to go a step farther. Not only do we need to do the right thing, but we need to do it for the right reason. If we aren’t careful we can slip into doing the right thing for the wrong reason. That’s what happened to the Pharisees.

They knew it was good to give offerings, pray, and do acts of kindness. The Pharisees got off course when they did all of this to be seen by men, sit in the chief seats, and have others consider them righteous (Matthew 23:5-7). God did not like that (Matthew 5:1-5). They were doing the right things for the wrong reasons. Hopefully our purpose runs deeper than doing acts of kindness or righteousness just so others will see and think highly of us.

Doing the right thing with an ulterior motive falls into this category as well. We all know we need to praise and worship God. But those “give-me,” “give-me,” “give-me” prayers aren’t all that pleasing to God. We have to ask ourselves if we come to God for what he can do for us or because of what he already has done for us. God isn’t in the business of giving us everything we want. Will we still praise him even if he doesn’t give us what we want or deliver us immediately from a bad situation?

This is a question Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had to ask themselves in Daniel 3. When King Nebuchadnezzar made a huge golden idol of himself and required everyone to bow down to it Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused. They would only bow to the one true God. The king was furious and said if they didn’t bow down he would throw them into a blazing furnace. He said, “Then what God can rescue you from my hand?”

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego could have gotten a little cocky and said, “No problem! We aren’t going to burn up. God won’t allow it!” Instead they said, “We know that the God we worship is able to rescue us, but even if he chooses not to, we still won’t bow down to your idol.”

I love this story. It shows the ultimate belief, trust, and confidence in God regardless of what God chooses to do. After all, God is God and we are not. Isn’t that the whole lesson of the book of Job? If it is God’s will not to deliver us the way we want to be delivered, is it okay with us? Or do we just pray and worship God so he will give us what we want?

What should our motive be? It can be summed up in one word – LOVE. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego didn’t bow down because they loved and trusted God. We pray and worship God because we love him. We do acts of kindness because we love others. The love chapter (1 Corinthians 13) tells us we can do wondrous works and remarkable unselfish deeds, but if we have not love, it profits nothing.

The motive of love will produce works that glorify God, which is the reason to do the right thing. 1 Corinthians 10:31 and Colossians 3:17 tell us that no matter what we do, it should be done for the glory of God. We do it all for God’s glory – not ours.

A person should strive to do the right thing. As Christians, we need to be sure we are doing it for the right reason.

Be sure to visit this page often to read the next edition of Walking in the Valley. You can write to the author at bdahlgren@wcgsouthbay.org.