فصل 15

CHAPTER 15

Being Good to People

Do you want to get more out of life? Okay, try this: Get up every day and rather than trying to be blessed, do everything in your power to be a blessing to someone else. If you will do that for six weeks—trying to be a blessing to someone every day—your life will be filled with so many blessings you won’t be able to contain them all.

I’ve discovered that if I meet other people’s needs, God will meet mine. If I make somebody else happy, God will make sure that I’m happy. Every day, we should look for opportunities to be good to people. Maybe you can buy somebody’s lunch, or give someone a ride, babysit somebody’s children. Get in a habit of doing some good for somebody every day. Don’t make the mistake of living selfishly. That’s one of the worst prisons you could ever live in. You were not created to be focused only on yourself. Almighty God made you to be a giver. The best way for you to be fulfilled is to get your mind off yourself and reach out to others.

Learn to be good to people in your everyday life. When you go to the lunchroom, bring your coworker back a cup of coffee. You may be thinking, I’m not going to do that. He never does anything for me.

Be bigger than that; do it unto God. Don’t miss an opportunity to do something good for someone. On the freeway, when traffic backs up, let that car squeeze in front of you. At the grocery store, when you have a large basket full of groceries and the person behind you is carrying just a few, let him or her go ahead of you. In the parking lot, when you pull up to that last spot at the same time as another car, back up and let the other person have that space. Prefer them over you. Be good to them.

Victoria and I went to a restaurant where we had eaten a number of times before. We practically knew the menu by heart, and we knew exactly what we wanted. When we sat down, we ordered right away. I was hungry, but it seemed to take forever for the cooks to prepare our food. We waited and waited. It didn’t make sense. The restaurant wasn’t even busy. When the waitress finally brought the food, our order was incorrect. She returned my dinner to the kitchen, and it was another long delay. Finally, I got tired of waiting and began eating off Victoria’s plate. It was the worst service that we’d ever had in that restaurant.

When it came time to pay the bill and leave a tip, I thought, God, now You just saw what happened. And I know that You’re a just God. Surely, You don’t expect me to leave a good tip.

Almost immediately, I knew I was wrong. I said, “Okay, God; how about five percent?”

Let me tell you a secret. Don’t ever negotiate with God, because you will never win. I said, “Okay, God, how about ten percent, fifteen percent? That’s the normal amount. God, You know that’s the going rate. I should be able to do that.” But I still didn’t have any peace. I knew God was saying, “Don’t miss this opportunity to do good. Don’t miss this opportunity to show My mercy.” We can be good to people when they’re good to us. That’s easy. But God wants us to be good to people even when they’re not so good to us.

I eventually changed my attitude and thought, I’m not just going to give this girl a tip, I’m going to sow a seed in her life. I’m going to go the extra mile and be good to her. We left a twenty-dollar tip for a thirty-dollar meal. But we did it as sowing a seed.

A few weeks later, I received a letter from that young lady. I had no idea that she had recognized Victoria and me; she hadn’t given us any indication that she knew us.

Her letter began by asking, “Do you remember me? I’m the girl who waited on you at what was probably your worst restaurant experience ever?” I smiled as I read and thought, I know exactly who you are.

She went on to tell how she had been raised in a good Christian family. They went to church every Sunday, but in her late teens, her family was hurt by a leader in their congregation. Somebody did them wrong. Consequently, the entire family had given up on God and dropped out of church. Over the last year or two, however, they had been watching me on television. The waitress related in her letter, “I told my parents I know those people are real. Something on the inside tells me they’re sincere and we need to get back in church.” She continued, “Joel, when you and your wife came in the restaurant, and we got your order all mixed up, most people would have really gotten aggravated and upset, but you two were so nice and kind. And on top of that, you left us that big tip.” She said, “That confirmed what I already knew in my heart. I went home and told my parents what happened, and now we’ve gotten our lives back on track, and we’re worshiping the Lord at Lakewood every Sunday morning.”

Learn to be good to people. That’s one of the best witnesses we can possibly have. Now, when I tip people, I tell Victoria, “We’re going to sow a seed into their life. Here’s an opportunity to do good.” When I leave that place, I want them to be able to say, “That couple sure is generous; they are good to people.” The world does not need to hear another sermon nearly as much as it needs to see one. Learn to give your time, your money, and an encouraging word; meet a need. When you show love, you are showing God to the world.

Don’t worry about it if you don’t get any credit. If that young lady hadn’t written to Victoria and me, it wouldn’t have mattered one bit. I would still feel that we did the right thing. When you let somebody in traffic in front of you, you may never see that person again. When you give somebody twenty dollars simply because you felt compassion in your heart, you may never hear back from them. That’s okay; God is keeping the records. He sees every act of kindness you show. He sees every time you are good to somebody. He hears every encouraging word you speak. God has seen all the times you went out of your way to help somebody who never said thank you. Your good deeds do not go unnoticed by Almighty God.

When you study the life of Jesus, you’ll notice that He always took time for people. He was busy. He had places He wanted to go, but He was always willing to change His plans to do good for somebody else. As He walked through the villages, people called out to Him, “Jesus, please come over here and pray for us.” He would stop and go out of His way to bring healing to those people. One time they came up to Him and said, “Jesus, please come to our city, our relative is so sick. You’ve got to pray for him.” Jesus changed His plans and went that way.

When they tried to bring the little children to Jesus, the disciples said, “No, don’t bother Him. He’s busy. He’s too important.”

Jesus said, “No, no; let the children come to Me.”

It’s so easy for us to get caught up in our own little worlds and focus only on ourselves. “I’ve got my plans. Don’t get me off my schedule.” Instead, take time for people. Don’t miss any opportunities to do good. Make a difference in somebody’s life. It doesn’t have to be something big. Often, small gestures of love and kindness can make a big difference. A women’s group at our church makes blankets, and then the women embroider Scripture verses on them and take them to cancer patients at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, in Houston. Those handmade blankets remind the men and women struggling with cancer that somebody cares; the expression of love gives them an extra ray of hope. Those ladies are using their talents to do something good for somebody else.

There are two kinds of people in this world: givers and takers. Be a giver and not a taker. Make a difference in somebody’s life. You are never more like God than when you give.