Has your good become your God?

Everything good certainly is not God...why else would the bible warn to "not let your good be evil spoken of?"

Right there in the word "your" I believe the answer lies. Your good, I believe, is when you are doing a good thing with good intentions but without God inspiring you to do it. Hence, it is called "your" good.

God said, "Ye are the light of the world." He also said, "Let your light so shine before men that they shall see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven." That might appear to say that you can go around doing everything with good intentions and men will glorify God because of it.

But why would He say, avoid the "appearance of evil". Could it be that "your" good can become "your god"? When you idolize the good things you do and they become more important to you than the voice of the Lord, then your good has become your idol. What you idolize is become your god. Your light will attract even the unattractable if it's the light of love, godliness, integrity, noble character, etc. then it will be noticed for the good that it is, but when your light is dim, it's because you're ignoring that "little voice" on the inside of you that has probably said once or twice, "Okay, you need to introduce this woman to your anointed wife so she can minister to her", or "Hey sister, why are listening to this man's stories about his pornography addiction and not finding a brother at church for him to talk to", or how about, "you don't need to call him/her anymore, just to check on them...that's the soul-tie speaking to you"

You see, that little voice that you're reasoning with is the Spirit of the Lord saying, "this" good can be evil spoken of. It's helping you to see that what you're doing (although a good thing) can be or already is appearing to be evil, so give it up and give it over! But, when we wrestle with that thing, and allow that spirit of high-mindedness in and think more of ourselves than we ought to, we start saying things like, "People just need to mind their own business!" What are we really saying? How about, "Come on in devil, back off Jesus, I got this! The only reason my good is evil spoken of or that this appears to be evil is because of nosey people!"

I caution you my brother, my sister, what stinks is right under your own nose! It's the stench of your own rotten flesh! Your flesh is enjoying the doing of the good works. Your flesh has become god of the good thing.

The Lord was not being over-protective when He said to, "avoid the APPEARANCE of evil!" No matter what your good intentions are, the Lord would have you right and righteous at all times! Your witness is so valuable to Him that He doesn't even want you to look bad.

Are you sitting back saying, "People need to mind their own business!" Then I guess you need to tell your Lord and Savior the same thing! Listen to how that sounds. Just stop and say for a brief second, "Jesus, mind your own business!" Wow! Although that must sting quite a bit, I'll bet He would still say, "Son/Daughter, you are My business."

It is granted, people will be who they are, do what they and say what they say regardless of your good intentions but are you giving them something to talk about? How many times do you need to talk to that girl at the back table in the cafeteria? How many times will you allow that man to call you because he's struggling with something and you're a good listener? Don't you know that's what the devil is saying to you, while The Holy Spirit is saying, "that's enough". Have you rebutted the voice of Truth by saying, "I ain't doing nothing wrong. Let them think what they want!"

People don't care about how many souls you've witnessed to who actually gave their lives to Jesus or to whom you may have ministered while they were on course to commit suicide. I know from personal experience that they're not checking your Christian resume to find out how high you scored on the holiness exam! I've been linked up "by popular opinion" with some folks in my life because of my own stubborness and refusal to admit that I was flirting with disaster and my good had become my god. If I'm telling on me, and telling the whole truth, I wanted to think better about myself. While I was high-minded, the enemy was celebrating my foolishness and waiting on his moment to pounce. I can look back on it now and see where I chose to let my flesh rise up in self-righteousness and yes, I said "People need to mind their own business!"

But on the contrary we need to mind His business. The business of being light in the darkness, not allowing our light to go dim with the excuses that pacify our flesh. I believe the Lord would have us to be spotless, blameless and looking good to Him and everyone else, if we simply mind His business!

If you're like I used to be and you can relate to what I'm saying, do a self-examination and check out those "good things" you're doing. While they may be good, are they causing you to have the appearance of evil? If so, it's not the fault of people not minding their own business, but your unwillingness to heed the warnings of Christ and avoid the appearance that's causing the problem! It's hard to admit it! It's easier to point the finger at others, but what's pointing back at you are the three fingers which I began to refer to as Father, Son and Holy Ghost!

I don't write to chastise you, I write to share that I too, once had three fingers pointing back at me as I pointed toward someone who was "in my business". It took me some time and some repenting to finally say "It's me, it's me, it's me oh Lord, standing in the need of prayer."

Is it good to help people in need? Of course it is, until the Lord re-directs you! Is it good to witness to them about Jesus? Of course it is, but what if the Lord says he's no longer your baby, he's Mine! Is it good to ignore that little voice? Not when it's crying out to you.

Are people minding your business or are you minding God's? If you're minding His business, why are you so defensive? Hmmm? Has your good become your God?