“The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.”
This may be my favorite part of the quote. What more difficult challenge could Mother Teresa have given to us? Human nature and society does not live by this rule. We often want the things we do today to make a difference in the world tomorrow. We want to be recognized, praised, and thanked for the good things that we do. But what does the Bible say about this idea?
Matthew 6:1-5 “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2 So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
That is a pretty difficult verse to live by. Something inside of us tells us that we deserve the attention from other people when we do something good. There is another way to take this quote. Perhaps you have done something good for someone, or have tried to help someone today, but what happens when there is little chance that our help and good does little for that person in the future? It might even seem that our efforts did nothing. The person has taken our help and thrown it away, not caring that we just took the time to think of them first. Or, perhaps they did not listen to our good, kind, helpful words of wisdom. We are called to do good, and to keep trying anyway. Even when nothing we seem to do makes a difference, our hearts are what matters. If we are trying to the best of our ability to do good in the eyes of the Lord, for the Lord's people, and to the Lord's people, then too will we be blameless before Him.
For a good biblical reflection on this part I would recommend the book of Jeremiah. Doing a quick search I couldn't find specific verses to back up the idea. However, I do know the idea behind the entire book. Countless times Jeremiah tried to help the people of Judah. He was following God's plan and was trying his hardest to help the people. In the end, despite his best efforts the people of Judah could not be saved. God was tired of tolerating their insolence, Jeremiah was their last chance. Jeremiah was never appreciated for his Good that he tried to do. He was hated an ran out of town. People instantly forgot his message of hope, and nothing he did seemed to matter.
“Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway.”
Oh how true this can be. How often is our best just not good enough. People will want and expect more. Give a person an inch and they will take a yard is a common mentality, but what happens when there is only an inch to give? We are sometimes blames and called selfish. This is unfair even though we gave our best. The only time we should ever be able to regret is when we know we didn't give our best when we could have. An athlete is often asked if they did their best. Most of the time we would like to believe that they do, and many times their best was not as good as someone elses. Does this mean that we should stop trying to give our best because we are going to disappoint anyway? Not according to Mother Teresa.
Ecclesiastes 9:10 “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.”
This may be my favorite part of the quote. What more difficult challenge could Mother Teresa have given to us? Human nature and society does not live by this rule. We often want the things we do today to make a difference in the world tomorrow. We want to be recognized, praised, and thanked for the good things that we do. But what does the Bible say about this idea?
Matthew 6:1-5 “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2 So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
That is a pretty difficult verse to live by. Something inside of us tells us that we deserve the attention from other people when we do something good. There is another way to take this quote. Perhaps you have done something good for someone, or have tried to help someone today, but what happens when there is little chance that our help and good does little for that person in the future? It might even seem that our efforts did nothing. The person has taken our help and thrown it away, not caring that we just took the time to think of them first. Or, perhaps they did not listen to our good, kind, helpful words of wisdom. We are called to do good, and to keep trying anyway. Even when nothing we seem to do makes a difference, our hearts are what matters. If we are trying to the best of our ability to do good in the eyes of the Lord, for the Lord's people, and to the Lord's people, then too will we be blameless before Him.
For a good biblical reflection on this part I would recommend the book of Jeremiah. Doing a quick search I couldn't find specific verses to back up the idea. However, I do know the idea behind the entire book. Countless times Jeremiah tried to help the people of Judah. He was following God's plan and was trying his hardest to help the people. In the end, despite his best efforts the people of Judah could not be saved. God was tired of tolerating their insolence, Jeremiah was their last chance. Jeremiah was never appreciated for his Good that he tried to do. He was hated an ran out of town. People instantly forgot his message of hope, and nothing he did seemed to matter.
“Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway.”
Oh how true this can be. How often is our best just not good enough. People will want and expect more. Give a person an inch and they will take a yard is a common mentality, but what happens when there is only an inch to give? We are sometimes blames and called selfish. This is unfair even though we gave our best. The only time we should ever be able to regret is when we know we didn't give our best when we could have. An athlete is often asked if they did their best. Most of the time we would like to believe that they do, and many times their best was not as good as someone elses. Does this mean that we should stop trying to give our best because we are going to disappoint anyway? Not according to Mother Teresa.
Ecclesiastes 9:10 “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.”
“For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.”
I could not think of a better way for her to end her quote. When it is all said and done nothing matters between us and the world. Everything we say, everything we think, and everything we do is to God, for God, and about God. He is the overall judge. He is the one that we are affecting overall. Nothing and no one matters outside of the Lord. In the beginning God made us, in the end He will decide whether we deserve to be kept, or if we deserve to be separated from the creator forever. We can serve only one master, God, or mankind. I pray that the choice is obvious.
Colossians 3:23 “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.”
Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”
In the end it seems that Mother Teresa is trying to describe a model for living. She is likely hinting at a way that we can live like Christ. Everyone knows who Mother Teresa is, and most everyone knows her for her kindness and goodness to the world and mankind. There are some people who question Mother Teresa's dedication to Jesus Christ. It seems that some would even claim that she was very wrapped up in Catholicism and claimed she was an idolater. Such statements are touch to swallow, and I leave them in God's hands to be the judge or her soul, for it is far beyond me to say who is and who is not saved. Still many others would claim that there is not way she is not in heaven, but, these people are also often ones that believe that a 'good person' gets to heaven and that works are important. I think I found after brief study that Catholicism has a heavy belief that both works and faith get you to heaven. I personally believe that faith alone even without works will allow you to heaven, but this is not the life we are called to, and God may not be pleased. (See blog on being Luke Warm) However, there is not way that Mother Teresa was completely crazy, as I managed to find a Bible verse that very closely resembles her quotation.
In the end it seems that Mother Teresa is trying to describe a model for living. She is likely hinting at a way that we can live like Christ. Everyone knows who Mother Teresa is, and most everyone knows her for her kindness and goodness to the world and mankind. There are some people who question Mother Teresa's dedication to Jesus Christ. It seems that some would even claim that she was very wrapped up in Catholicism and claimed she was an idolater. Such statements are touch to swallow, and I leave them in God's hands to be the judge or her soul, for it is far beyond me to say who is and who is not saved. Still many others would claim that there is not way she is not in heaven, but, these people are also often ones that believe that a 'good person' gets to heaven and that works are important. I think I found after brief study that Catholicism has a heavy belief that both works and faith get you to heaven. I personally believe that faith alone even without works will allow you to heaven, but this is not the life we are called to, and God may not be pleased. (See blog on being Luke Warm) However, there is not way that Mother Teresa was completely crazy, as I managed to find a Bible verse that very closely resembles her quotation.
Luke 6:37-38 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
So I end with this. Examine how you are living. Which master are you serving? And how will you serve the Master? It may be by faith that we are saved, but do not forget, a majority of the Bible is about how we are to live based on faith. How we live our lives now is not to be taken lightly.
Your friend, brother, and companion in Christ,
-Zach Haas
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