well & good

Some of you are grammar nerds. No judgment, honestly, I love you all. There their they’re… you are keeping us from spiraling into lazy language. But I must ask you…

• Did you do good? (I can hear you cringing) 
• or… Did you do well? 

My college president felt it was possible to do both and was famous for saying so. You canfind this printed on magnets, coffee mugs, and reusable shopping bags in my town. If you were lucky enough to know him personally, this particular quote conjures images of him with books under his arm smiling ask he crossed the quad. 

“Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.” ~Minor Myers, Jr. 

But this concept of doing both well and good did not originate with him. It was a thought that God had at the beginning of creation. It was alive and well when Jesus walked this earth. And Paul wrote of it often as the first churches were beginning, so they would not forget. We have two purposes in life… you and I. 

1. Love God
2. Love others. 

That’s it. And how we love others, is not simply butterflies in our stomach or euphoric feelings of heartfelt longing (though there is space and a place for love like that.) This love is intentional, sacrificial and selfless.

“Let us not become weary of doing good…let us do good to all people…” ~Galatians 6:9-10 

God calls me to do my best. To try again and again… without giving up… without ceasing… to grow into the woman he needs me to be. He has big plans for me, and my part of this plan is to every day prepare my heart and follow him. He needs me to do well. But equally important is that part of those big plans contain lots of little moments. Opportunities to smile at someone, hold a door, give my time, share in someone’s grief, give them something to eat, a place to sleep, an ear to listen. To look without judging, listen without gossiping, use words that honor people and build them up, refrain from words and actions that could cause someone who is struggling, to stumble. He needs me to love outwardly, with an active verb in a passive world. He needs me to do good. 

“God built a million doors in the world for his love to walk through. One of those doors… is you.” ~lyrics by Jason Gray 

  inspired by Galatians 6 and the man who held the door open for us at breakfast