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You Are Good from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo.

When you get married, your life changes in many ways. Life is no longer about what I need. Instead, it becomes about what we need as a couple. The "I do" automatically brings many unspoken, "I don'ts" along with it. Your actions now reflect on your spouse, and you are now called to a higher standard. When you said yes to your spouse, you said no to a billion others. You get the picture.

When you make Jesus the Lord of your life, then a similar change begins to happen inside of you, which should eventually affect the outside as well, for He literally changes us from the inside out. Because Jesus is our Lord, we begin to behave differently. We are called to a higher standard. Consider this conversation between Jesus, James, and John:

(Luke 9:51–56 NASB)  When the days were approaching for His ascension, He was determined to go to Jerusalem; and He sent messengers on ahead of Him, and they went and entered a village of the Samaritans to make arrangements for Him. But they did not receive Him, because He was traveling toward Jerusalem. When His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what kind of spirit you are of; for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” And they went on to another village.

James and John did not like the rejection very well and wanted to call down fire from heaven and burn up the village. While Jesus rebuked them and told them they did not know what kind of Spirit they represented. In other words, "We are the good guys, not the baddies."

We can become so wrapped up in our petty beliefs and divisions that we begin to be the baddies. We begin to treat others wrongly and can be mean, inconsiderate, downright hateful to one another. This should not be. Jesus told us to love one another, and there is no way around it.

(John 13:34–35 NKJV)  A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.

I know we can read these words and yet not live them, but I want to stress how important it should be. Our actions on the Earth affect more than we can see with our eyes. Roughly a year after David got his neighbor's wife pregnant and then had her husband Uriah killed to cover it up, Nathan the Prophet showed up at his house. The prophet told him a story about a rich man who had taken a poor neighbor's little lamb and served it to his guests.

King David was furious and said, "This man deserves to die!" The Prophet Nathan said, "You are the man." The Lord pronounced a sentence on David and told him that he had lain with a man's wife in secret, but that another man would lay with his wives in public. Later, his son Absalom did just that (2 Samuel 16:22). But there is even more to the story:

(2 Samuel 12:12–15 NASB)  ‘Indeed you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, and under the sun.’ ” Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” And Nathan said to David, “The LORD also has taken away your sin; you shall not die. “However, because by this deed you have given occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born to you shall surely die.” So Nathan went to his house. Then the LORD struck the child that Uriah’s widow bore to David, so that he was very sick.

David's sinful act gave the enemies of the Lord a justified occasion to laugh, jeer, and mock. "Look at the King You chose! Glad he isn't mine! You must be proud of that one!" Our secret actions are seen by all of the heavens, and detailed reports are written down. That should scare every one of us. 

As a Christian, you are supposed to be good and called to a higher standard. You cannot afford to be nasty because "You Are Good." You represent Jesus. This means you cannot let your temper get out of control. You cannot mistreat people, even when they wrong you. Jesus said this:

(Matthew 5:43–48 NASB)  “You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.’ “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. “For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? “If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

We are to try and be perfect like Jesus. Our lives should reflect faith, good works, and love to those around us. One of Jesus' final teachings was about His return to the Earth. He will gather and sort the people like a shepherd would sheep and goats. He will put the righteous sheep on His right and the goats on His left. This is not a parable but a statement about what will come to pass in the future.

(Matthew 25:34–40 NKJV)  Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’

Jesus' first coming was quietly unseen by the world. He was born in a small cave in Bethlehem and rested in a manger. But His second coming will be seen by everyone and will be the most public event in history. There is a severe finality to His words about Judgment, and no one is given a "do-over" or a second chance at His return.

What are the differences between the people above? The sheep chose to do good things to others, while the goats didn't. Not being evil is not enough. We are to actively be good. A tree is known by the fruit it bears (Matthew 12:33).

It turns out that the little things we do for insignificant people are a big deal to Jesus. The sheep were surprised that the small things they thought so little about were so important. While the goats found that their lack of will to help the little people turned out to be a big deal to Jesus. The writer of Hebrews tells us that the stranger the Lord puts in our path to help may even be an angel:

(Hebrews 13:2 NASB) Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.

Let us be good to one another and treat others as we would like to be treated.

You can pray this with me if you like:

Prayer: Heavenly Father, please let me see others through Your eyes and reveal to me the small opportunities of how I can help them. I want to be good and to represent You in a loving way to others. Be with me today and give me a fresh revelation of Your love. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen!

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