“After looking around to make sure no one was watching . .” Exodus 2:12 NLT
“Doing wrong never works out right, even if done for a right reason!”
My thoughts today are about “doing what’s right.”
Is your vocabulary better spoken depending on who is listening? Is your attitude better monitored when people you think important are nearby? Does your humor take a different turn depending on your present circle of companions? Is your behavior different when you know no one else is observing? But isn’t it true that someone is always looking; you just don’t always know who, or what will be the effect of your example at that time.
Your conduct, conversation, and attitudes should at all times and on all occasions be exemplary, not an exception. There is a moral danger to ever being something on an occasion that you would not choose to be all the time. Indulge others possibly, but never yourself. Conduct, conversation, and attitudes are really matters of character and integrity. It may be an over-simplification, but character is essentially being the same in public and private. Integrity is being the same inside and out – what you see is what you get, and it’s all good.
Among others things my father taught and modeled for me, I learned a principle of leadership: “Those who follow you may not match your discipline, so demand more of yourself than you would expect of them; they may also exceed your liberties so be more restrained than you would otherwise have to be.“ My takeaway was this: others are watching; what you do could affect what they do, to their detriment or benefit. Here’s the reality: someone is always watching your life and being affected for better or worse – for time or even eternity – by what you do, what you say, and who you are. As a parent and pastor I must remember others are watching to know what they should do, how they should live. I want to be a Godly example and do what’s right.
Be a Godly example, authentically not artificially. The Bible instructs that you “be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, and in purity.” 1 Timothy 4:12 NKJV. Do you know how you can best do that? Follow the Leader, Christ Jesus. “For to this you were called, Christ . . leaving us an example, that you should follow in His steps: Who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth.” Read 1 Peter 2:21-22 NKJV.
For a right reason, you can still do the wrong thing. Moses was a remarkable man and great leader, but even he was vulnerable to an unwise decision when he thought no one was looking; no one would know. Moses was a Prince of Egypt but now knew he was also a Hebrew by birth. Coming upon an Egyptian beating a Hebrew slave, “After looking around to make sure that no one was watching, Moses killed the Egyptian and buried him in the sand.” Exodus 2:11-15 NLT. If you have to look around to make sure no one is watching, you probably are about to do something you ought not to do! Doing wrong never works out right, even if done for a right reason! Job observed, “Times are not hidden from the Almighty.” Job 24:1 NKJV. When no one else sees, God does! Read 1 Corinthians 4:5 NIV/ 2 Corinthians 4:2 NKJV. You will never regret doing what’s right; you will regret when you don’t.
My prayer for you today is that you do what’s right because that’s right to do.