We all know we should quit our bad habits right now. This very second. Or maybe yesterday. But what about the good things we are doing? Is there ever a time we should quit doing those?
4 Excellent Reasons to Quit Doing Something Good
1. When there is something better you can do.
"Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Until your good is better and your better is best." Buying your children an audio drama is good, giving them a book is better, but reading them a book is probably best. Feeding your children a meal of almost any sort is a good thing to do, feeding them a home-cooked meal is better, but feeding them a healthy home-cooked meal is the best. Reading in general is usually a good thing to do. Maybe you are reading the latest and greatest Christian book-of-the-year. That's an even better thing. But have you read your Bible yet today? That would be best. Quit the good things you are doing in order to give attention to something better.
2. When it is a job that never ends.
I believe in housework. I do it regularly. But it really never ends. So there comes a time every day when I have to say, "My work is not yet finished--but I am." Even when you are doing the best of all jobs, you must sometimes quit in order to take care of your other responsibilities. My husband and I have a dear friend who bungled his wedding night because he was downstairs in the hotel lobby witnessing to the guy at the front desk instead of romancing his new bride. They can laugh about it now, but at the time, it wasn't funny. As he said later, soul-winning and evangelism will never end, but there comes a point when another responsibility should kick in.
3. When someone else should be doing it.
When person A is reluctantly and with great frustration attempting to do a job that person B could whiz through with delight and joy, person A might be robbing person B. Are you ever persisting in a job that isn't really yours to do? God has equipped us all differently. Maybe you are a wonderful cook but a terrible nursery worker. You should probably bypass the playland of diapers, diggers, and dolls, and go directly to the church kitchen. Likely, there is someone else serving in the kitchen who views it as pure drudgery and is eyeing the nursery door with longing. Don't rob her. Occasionally we are called upon to serve self-sacrificially at things we don't enjoy, but normally we should be magnifying the gifts and skills God has already given us.
4. When the Holy Spirit tells you to stop.
I remember distinctly one morning when I was cleaning my upstairs and the Holy Spirit suggested quietly that I should stop what I was currently doing and go clean my living room. How glad I was that I listened to that still, small voice when an hour later I heard a knock on my front door. I could warmly welcome my guests into our home without panicking over the state of the living room. But there have been other times when I heard His voice and didn't obey immediately, only to regret it later. If you are walking with the Lord, He will speak to you about even the small things of life.
Is there anything in your life right now that you need to quit doing?
"Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Until your good is better and your better is best." Buying your children an audio drama is good, giving them a book is better, but reading them a book is probably best. Feeding your children a meal of almost any sort is a good thing to do, feeding them a home-cooked meal is better, but feeding them a healthy home-cooked meal is the best. Reading in general is usually a good thing to do. Maybe you are reading the latest and greatest Christian book-of-the-year. That's an even better thing. But have you read your Bible yet today? That would be best. Quit the good things you are doing in order to give attention to something better.
2. When it is a job that never ends.
I believe in housework. I do it regularly. But it really never ends. So there comes a time every day when I have to say, "My work is not yet finished--but I am." Even when you are doing the best of all jobs, you must sometimes quit in order to take care of your other responsibilities. My husband and I have a dear friend who bungled his wedding night because he was downstairs in the hotel lobby witnessing to the guy at the front desk instead of romancing his new bride. They can laugh about it now, but at the time, it wasn't funny. As he said later, soul-winning and evangelism will never end, but there comes a point when another responsibility should kick in.
3. When someone else should be doing it.
When person A is reluctantly and with great frustration attempting to do a job that person B could whiz through with delight and joy, person A might be robbing person B. Are you ever persisting in a job that isn't really yours to do? God has equipped us all differently. Maybe you are a wonderful cook but a terrible nursery worker. You should probably bypass the playland of diapers, diggers, and dolls, and go directly to the church kitchen. Likely, there is someone else serving in the kitchen who views it as pure drudgery and is eyeing the nursery door with longing. Don't rob her. Occasionally we are called upon to serve self-sacrificially at things we don't enjoy, but normally we should be magnifying the gifts and skills God has already given us.
4. When the Holy Spirit tells you to stop.
I remember distinctly one morning when I was cleaning my upstairs and the Holy Spirit suggested quietly that I should stop what I was currently doing and go clean my living room. How glad I was that I listened to that still, small voice when an hour later I heard a knock on my front door. I could warmly welcome my guests into our home without panicking over the state of the living room. But there have been other times when I heard His voice and didn't obey immediately, only to regret it later. If you are walking with the Lord, He will speak to you about even the small things of life.
Is there anything in your life right now that you need to quit doing?
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