Do Not Grow Weary in Well-Doing

Probably the worst enemy of enthusiasm is time. Human beings have a remarkable and sad capacity for getting tired of wonderful things. Almost every one of you can think of something you were enthusiastic about recently, but now the joy is faded. Your first day of vacation on the coast the sunset was breathtaking and made you so happy you could sing. But by the end of your stay you hardly noticed it any more. Vacationers get tired of sunsets, millionaires get tired of money, kids get tired of toys, and Christians get tired of doing good.

At first the excitement of teaching that Sunday School class was strong, but now you have grown weary of well-doing. The thrill is gone. At first you felt clean and strong in the Holy Spirit as you drove the van, taught the Lao English, led the small group, visited the newcomers, started reading the Bible, worked in the emergency shelter . . . but now you have grown weary in well-doing. The inner power and joy have seeped away. It's a chore. You've lost heart.

But Galatians 6:9 says, "Let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we do not lose heart." It doesn't mean, of course, that you can never stop one job and start another. If you ask what the well-doing is that we must not tire of, probably the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22.

The best answer: don't grow weary of being patient and kind and good and faithful and gentle and self-controlled. Don't grow weary of manifesting your peace and joy in all kinds of acts of love to your neighbors and associates and family. And let us not (therefore!) grow weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. " You will reap eternal life, if you sow to the Spirit, that is, if you don't grow weary in well-doing.

In short, don't lose heart in spending yourself through love!