Friday; January 11


          My parents weren’t big believers in giving allowances, nor did they pay us for grades.  Their instruction to us was that we should do our chores and work hard at school because that was what we were supposed to do.  Now, I will not fib and tell you that, as a child, I was excited about their philosophy – yes, I would like to have been like my friends who reaped a financial reward for their work, but now, as I look back at it, I appreciate the lesson they were trying to teach me.  As children, our “job” was to work around the house and do good in school because that’s what the Wharton children were expected to do – and it was the right thing to do.
          Sometimes I wonder if we miss out on the idea of righteousness.  Have you ever heard someone say that the reason we are to forgive our neighbor is so that God will forgive us?  Have you ever heard the philosophy that the reason we give to help others is so that God will bless us in return?  Have you ever heard it said that the reason to be nice to people is so they will be nice to you in return.  Sure, I believe there is validity to each of these statements, but sometimes we need to just accept the fact that we need to do these (and other acts of righteousness) because they are the right things to do.  We have been called to act a certain way in our social and spiritual lives because that is what we are supposed to be doing.
          Are we willing to do what’s right because it’s the right thing to do?  That may sound redundant, but it just might help us stay committed.
Think About It!

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