Goodness

Daily writing prompt

What is something others do that sparks your admiration?

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When I look back on my life, I admire all the nice, honest, good-humoured, hard-working people who I encountered. It’s as simple as that. They all spark my admiration.

In the New Testament, particularly Romans 3, the emphasis is on how bad we are. We do fall short of God’s standards, which is why we need a Saviour. And when we accept the Saviour, we still need to be aware of our daily shortcomings. But in relative terms, you do get good and bad people in the world. The Good Samaritan is an example, though only God is good in absolute terms.

We do a lot of complaining here in Ireland, but so many people want to come to Ireland, Europe and the US. It’s not that these regions are particularly wonderful to live in, or that they are the only good places to live in, but there are so many awful places in the world. And very often, they’re awful, because awful people are in positions of power. And in some cases, perhaps awful people vote for them or support them. But we mustn’t forget that such regions include many good people too, who suffer greatly.

So, I try not to take my life in Ireland for granted. For all our complaining, so many have worked to make our part of the world a relatively nice place to live in. I don’t think that “ordinary people” always get the credit that they deserve. And we mustn’t forget that things can change. Back at the beginning of the 20th Century, people were so optimistic, but things went downhill rapidly, culminating in two dreadful world wars. Back around 1990, things seemed so much better, but we’ve had so much bad news in recent years. But I just hope and pray that things will improve again. I realize that it won’t be perfect until Jesus returns, but we are surely called to make the world a better place for everyone in the meantime. And we can do that by learning to love each other as we love ourselves. And it’s even better to focus on the greatest commandment, to love the Lord our God with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind and all our strength.

Galatians 6:9-10
⁹ Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. ¹⁰ Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.