Marsha's Musings: Doing Good

As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good. If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. Do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother. (2 Thessalonians 3:13-15 ESV)

Do you ever work hard day after day and get discouraged because you feel like you are barely making ends meet or making any headway?  Do you look at those who seem to get away without doing anything, yet are handed food and other amenities by the government while you work hard and scrape by?

Scripture says we should not grow weary in doing good.  Elsewhere we are told that in due time we will reap from the good that we have done.

But what about those who do not work as mentioned earlier in this chapter?  Remember, Paul says those who refuse to work often become busybodies. He says here we are to have nothing to do with them.  Yet, he says we are not to treat them as enemies.  How do we reconcile this?

I believe what he is trying to say is that we are not to spend time with them like we would with other friends because they could have a bad influence on us or they may try to sponge off us.  But since he says do not treat them as enemies, I think what he means is that we should not shun them when our paths cross.  We should still be friendly and speak to them.  Just don't go out of your way to spend lots of time around them.

That would be my take on it anyway.  If anyone has a different take on it feel free to jump in.