Do Right – From Love, Not Fear

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.  If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. –  First  Corinthians 13:1-3

I used to say
Love was just game we play
Now I see it in a different way
So I want to do right
I’ve got to do right.

“Do Right” – Paul Davis

Ethics. Honesty. Accountability. Faithfulness. “Do ‘the right thing’”.

Words … phrases … thoughts … connections. Our guardrails each day, to ensure we help each other along our individual paths. We are a beacon of inspiration, gratitude, and encouragement to each other. At day’s end, what will be our accounting with God regarding our actions? Our relationships?

Paul Davis was a multi-talented composer and singer, whose peak was in the late 1970s and early 1980s. His pop hits were about contemporary topics, always very “catchy”. The song I concentrate on here was, in my view, a marked diversion from the “regular “pop” genre. It has very specific faith overtones, at 4:00, it was very long by disc jockey standards, and had a complicated music line throughout the recording. Nonetheless, it struck a nerve in spring, 1980, and made it to No. 23 on the pop charts. Listeners paid rapt attention to Davis’ devotional expression. I’ve got to do right, before my God, and for the most important person in my life, with me now and hearing these words.

I am heartened that young folks are figuring out how to tune out the unnecessary, the distractions that are barriers to “doing right” and, for those who are on what is a singular journey, a search for the person God is directing to them.

You will find that answer. Take heart. Avoid excess consumption; it will not impress someone you want to know. They want to know about you, not your stuff, as do you, them. They want to know, as you grow together, pray together, celebrate together, cry together, “dig deep” together, and arrive at the moment you commit to each other, our Lord is there, helping you as you “do right” as you move down the path of life together.

Doing right is not an action, it is a gift, and the outcome is not an end, but the beginning.

Image: Pixabay