Make The Most Of Every Opportunity

In everything you “accomplish” in this world: graduating from school, having a family, working your way to the top, making friends... give credit where credit is due. “It is God who works in you to will and to do according to his good purpose.” Most importantly let’s always give credit where credit is due when it comes to our salvation. Why am I going to heaven? Not because I am a good person or have led a good life. Not even because I have faith. I am going to heaven because Jesus suffered the punishment of my sins on the cross. Make the most of every opportunity to give credit where credit is due.

II. To do good to all (7-10)

But now having seen all that God has done for us, he wants us to serve him and others as our way of thanking him. You see, the faith that is in our hearts, the faith that gives God credit for our salvation, also wants to live for God. Those who say, “I have forgiveness, so I am going to go out and party and do what I want” show that they do not have the love of God in their hearts.

Do not be deceived. God cannot be mocked. We can’t fool him. He knows what’s in our hearts. He knows everything we do. He knows if we “sow to the sinful nature”, i.e., if we reject him and live in sin. He knows if we “sow to please the Spirit”, i.e., if we have faith which shows itself in acts of love. So, let’s make the most of every opportunity to live the faith that he has given us. Let’s not become weary and tired of doing good to others. As verse 10 says: “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people.”

When God gives you the opportunity to help your fellow man, make the most of that opportunity. Whether it be a worthy charity, giving blood, volunteering at the hospital, helping your neighbor move, visiting the elderly lady down the street who seems to be lonely. Make the most of every opportunity to show love and kindness.

When your husband is grouchy, when your parents are unfair, when your boss yells at you. Make the most of every opportunity to forgive. And when the devil tempts you to be selfish, to grow weary of doing good: take a good long look again at that cross. Jesus has made the most of every opportunity to show you love and kindness. He has made the most of every opportunity to forgive you (and let me tell you, he has had many opportunities to forgive us because we just sin so much). So let’s thank him by making the most of every opportunity to do good to others...

III. To especially watch out for our brothers and sisters (1-6)

And especially, as our text tells us, to those who belong to the family of believers. Paul actually gives us some examples here in our text of opportunities to show love to our brothers and sisters in the faith. He says in verse one that if we see that a fellow Christian has fallen into some kind of sin, we should “restore him gently.” The word for restore here in the text was the word used to describe how a surgeon in those days fixed a broken arm or leg. God wants us to confront a person when they are found in sin, but he wants us to do it to restore them, to heal them, so that they repent and come back to God. As we saw before, this isn’t a condescending reprimand, but rather a concerned sibling looking out for his brother or sister.