Do the Right Thing. Now.

I counseled someone recently who was at a crossroads. Some wrong had been done in his past. Now, he was unsure what to do.

Make no mistake about it, to do the right thing now could cause more consequences. It might have brought about adverse circumstances that would not come about if the issue was kept in the dark. But if he brought it up, he might run certain risks.

His options?

  1. Keep it quiet. Don’t address it. Let what was wrong stay hidden, and hopefully, it will never see the light of day. If it becomes uncovered one day without his initiation, the fallout will be significant. If it doesn’t become uncovered, he will live in external peace but internal fear of being exposed unexpectedly.
  2. Address it. Initiate the admission. Start the reconciliation. Brace for fallout, but be the one in the driving seat. Do the right thing because you can rather than when you have to do it. The fallout could be significant, but there would be peace.

What was my counsel?

“You can’t go back and do the right thing in the past, but you can do the right thing now. That’s honestly all you can control at this moment. Nothing can change what happened, but you have the opportunity to make it right now. Regardless of all that has transpired, right here and now, what is the right thing to do?”

Time will see what he does with that advice, and I suppose it will with us as well. As I live and notice issues around me, there has been so much wrong done. In my life, family, church, denomination, etc., there is so much wrong stacked up in the past. So, what do you do? You can’t go back and make it right. You can’t change the action. You can’t reverse the decision. You shouldn’t try to filter the content and try to make what was wrong seem right.

Your option? My option?

Do the right thing. Now.

Do the right thing, right now, and trust God for the results.

Yesterday cannot be changed, but today can be lived with integrity.

You can’t do the right thing then, but you can do the right thing now.

For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.

1 Peter 2:20