The Right Thing
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Philemon
It is the right thing for
you to do (v.8).
Gjyste Vjerdha was busy working her nightly,
graveyard-shift cleaning job at a restaurant
with her 22-year-old son, Gentjan. As she
tidied up a restroom, Gjyste found some women’s rings
worth thousands of dollars. The thought of keeping the
treasures might have crossed her mind, but she chose to
do the right thing and take the jewelry to her manager.
Later that day, the rings were returned to a woman who
had accidentally left them in the restroom. Gentjan said,
“You get so many things by hard work; you don’t need to
steal or take from someone else.”
The apostle Paul once made an appeal to his friend
Philemon who had likely experienced some theft by a
man named Onesimus (Philemon 1:18). During a stay
in prison, Onesimus had become a believer in Jesus
through Paul’s ministry (v.10).
Paul wanted Philemon to welcome back this young
man who had once been Philemon’s slave—a pilfering
one at that! The apostle wrote that to warmly receive the
changed man would be “the right thing for you to do”
(v.8). It was right, for Philemon’s forgiveness would reflect
what Jesus Himself had taught and modeled.
As believers in Christ, when we do the right thing, the
word gets around and others can see the beauty of real
faith (v.5). When we’re forgiving, generous (v.6), loving,
and kind (v.10), our actions reveal a right way of living for
Jesus’ sake (v.20).
Today you might come across something that doesn’t belong to you. You might
be confronted with the opportunity to forgive someone who has offended you.
Each moment of your life presents a simple question: Will you do the right thing?
Doing what’s right is a reflection of real faith in Jesus. Choose, for His sake, to
do what you know is right today. —Tom Felten
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Keep putting into practice
all you learned and
received from me—
everything you heard
from me and saw me
doing. Then the God of
peace will be with you
(Philippians 4:9).
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What issue are you
wrestling with that’s
calling for you to do
the right thing for Jesus’
sake? Why is it essential
that we strive to do what
is right in this life?
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