“Don’t neglect to do what is good and to share, for God is pleased with such sacrifices.”
‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭13‬:‭16‬ ‭CSB‬‬

Is doing good a sacrifice?

I guess it depends on what “good” means. In this context it means doing what benefits people other than me — the people around me, the people in my family, my church, my place of work, my school, the people on the bus with me, the people driving on the road next to me, my neighbors, random strangers whom I may never meet…

Doing good is the opposite of self-serving behavior. It’s not doing what feels good to me, although sometimes doing good does also feel good.

So yes, absolutely, doing good is a sacrifice. To do good as described above, I have to put aside my needs and ideas and comfort while contemplating what someone else might need or think or feel like. It takes energy and brain-power and time. And there may be little, if anything, in it for me.

I am me so it’s easy to know what I want. I want to sit here on my couch, eat cookies, and watch TV without being disturbed. I want to listen to music on the beach without using headphones at a volume I enjoy. I want to park in the closest spot to the front door of the grocery store. I want to walk down the sidewalk at a pace I choose. I want… I should be able to… I have a right to…

None of these attitudes are about doing good. Doing good sacrifices my “I want” on the altar with Jesus.

Dear God,

Thank you for putting aside your wants and coming to earth to save me. Forgive me for being so self-serving and thinking more about my desires or rights or goals or preferences than I do about the desires or rights or goals or preferences of other people. Teach me to seek your will instead of my own will each moment of each day so that I do not neglect to do good.