Every good deed has a ripple effect around us and the same way, every bad deed makes a ripple effect as well. Are we making a positive impact on society, family and community we belong? Or Are we making a negative impact around us? Our inner self knew it better. Good or bad what we offer to our fellow beings determine our best version. Every good and bad deed undergo accusations from people. While receiving false accusations, bad remarks, unethical criticism are pushed us backwards. A consequence of these makes most of us move on with mute mode. By this our enthusiasm to do good turned into neither do good nor bad. It allows oneself muted. It makes oneself survive with limitations. The vision and mission of doing good sometimes crumble when we face false accusations. Is it okay to limit oneself? Let us heed what our Holy Bible tells us,
“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” Gal 6:9
“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” Ephesians 2:10
We are created to do good according to the Bible. Sometimes we feel fed-up and weary when we received false accusations while trying to do good. False accusations of others made us slow down and even made us hide into the shell, like a snail. As for God’s word, we should not be weary while doing good. Our bible has a beautiful story engraving for us, it reveals how a particular character evolved under false accusations and manipulation. Let us analyze the life of Joseph from the Old Testament.
Genesis chapter 39 reveals Potiphar, an Egyptian official, captain of the guard had brought Joseph as a slave. Joseph was all alone in an unknown land far away from his father’s house, But God was with him. Most of the time when people put us alone; there God comes in to dwell within us. That is a kind of favour from our Lord. Genesis 39:4 reveals that 4 kinds of promotion from Potiphar to Joseph, they are
- Joseph found favour in Potiphar’s eyes
- He became Potiphar’s attendant
- Potiphar put him in charge of his household.
- Potiphar entrusted to Joseph’s care everything he owned.
God promoted Joseph in an honourable position in his master’s house; the very same place where he once stepped in as a slave. Everything going good to him until his master’s wife had set her eyes on Joseph, “and after a while, his master’s wife took notice of him…” Gen 39:7. She persuaded him but Joseph refused her offer by telling
“No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you because you are his wife. How then could I do such wicked thing and sin against God?” Gen 39:9.
Astonishingly Joseph’s statement to Potiphar’s wife reveals that he was living a God-centered life. He might have told, ‘how then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against my master’, instead he told: “How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?”. Joseph honoured God by his words and deeds as well. The woman’s torture was not only happened a day but it happened day after day. She reached an extreme move to make him do what she pleased to do. Contrary to her wish, he ran out from her presence and left his cloak. Disappointed Potiphar’s wife began to manipulate to her household servants. Not only she manipulated but also accused her husband for bringing Joseph into their house as a slave boy.
‘Then she told him this story “That Hebrew slave you brought us came to me to make sport of me. But as soon as I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house’. When his master heard the story his wife told him, saying, “This is how your slave treated me”, he burned with anger”. Gen 39:17-19
Potiphar’s wife had a skill of adding fuel to the frying pan. She mastered how to make her husband’s anger arose and also she was skillful in making her husband guilt-ridden. How devilish woman she was! Potiphar’s wife was a manipulative lady and also she controlled her husband as a marionette.
Joseph who lost his reputations because of her manipulative attitude. He had done everything good to make his master’s household prosper. All his toil for Potiphar’s house was gone vain. The accusation befall on him was a false one but he couldn’t able to prove himself faultless. Joseph became a victim of her manipulation. If this happened on nowadays, he could prove himself by showing CCTV footage… oops.. he could not have such chance on those days.
There are some places we encountered and victimised by false accusations. The attitude of manipulative people victimise us and allow us all to wallow in resentment and guilt-stricken. The consequence of these, we sometimes afraid to be good, afraid of being kind to everyone, afraid to do good to everyone, afraid to risk ourselves to make a good impact on people’s lives and afraid to be real. Instead, we started being artificial, wearing artificial smiles and move on with our life journey in an unusual way. A handful of life’s experience and a bunch of incidents change our attitudes. Those incidents make a negative impact on our personal lives. From the life of Joseph, we have to learn to be real and unchanged by the aftermath of life’s whirlwind experiences. Joseph was thrown into prison, there too he got favour from the eyes of a prison warden, “ so the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there” Gen 39:22.
From the above verse, we can sense his unchanged attitude. For all those negative experiences could not shake him. His character was unchanged and he was good to the prison warden as well as prisoners. He was pitied about his plight at an occasion by saying, “For I was forcibly carried off from the land of Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing to deserve put in dungeon” Gen 40:15. In due course of time, God honoured him by placing him next to the king of Egypt. If people are defaming you in one way, our Lord Almighty is working on another side to make your fame excel. Joseph was defamed by Potiphar’s wife at Potiphar’s households but God arose his fame in and around Egypt.
God rewarded Joseph for his goodness and tolerance he endured on an unknown land. What Our Lord expects from us is, we have to do good; for this we are created, we have to hold an unchanging attitude while doing good. God promises that He will reward us according to our good deeds. And also we should not weary in doing good. Ephesians 6:7 says,
“Serve wholeheartedly as if you were serving the Lord, not men because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does….”
It is we who has to choose whether we want to be like Joseph or like Potiphar’s wife. It is always two roads before us. Our choice determine who we are and who we belong to.
“Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.” 3 John 1:11
May we keep our focus on doing good because God created us to do so. Do not stubble by false accusations. Do not let the manipulative attitude of others limit the goodness within us. We should not remember to forget to drain out weary while doing good. False accusation and manipulative attitude of others, are indications that our God’s reward is on the way. If manipulative people work hard to defame our reputations, God will work for us to increase our fame the very same place where we once lost our sense of security and felt shame; just like HE did to Joseph. May we do many more good works which make a ripple effects around us. May our lives glorify our Father in Heaven by all ways. May our God give us HIS grace and strength to fulfill HIS will.
Pearly Gates 