Do Good Continually

I was impressed by this simple description of Shiblon, the son of Alma, towards the end of his life: “He was a just man, and he did walk uprightly before God; and he did observe to do good continually, to keep the commandments of the Lord his God” (Alma 63:2).  Alma had encouraged Shiblon’s brother specifically to “do good continually” and apparently that’s exactly what Shiblon did (Alma 41:14).  I believe this is very significant description of Shiblon’s life, and I take it to mean that he was simply always doing the right thing, always serving others and helping those around him—he consistently did good to those around him in whatever situation he was in.  I think Jacob gave us the best definition of what it means to do good: “To clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted” (Jacob 2:19).  That is exactly what Christ did during his mortal ministry, and Luke used the expression to describe the Savior’s life: “He went about doing good” (Acts 10:38).  Surely that’s an ideal for us to strive for—to do good to others all the time.

               There are many scriptures that similarly encourage us to “do good.”  The writer of Psalms encouraged us, “Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it….  Trust in the Lord, and do good” (Psalm 34:14, 37:3).  Christ taught that we are to “do good to them that hate [us]” and Paul exhorted us to “do good unto all men” (Matthew 5:44, Galatians 6:10).  Christ gave us the example that we should “do good on the sabbath days” by helping those in need (Mark 3:4).  Peter encouraged us to “eschew evil, and do good” (1 Peter 3:11).  The people of King Benjamin covenanted to follow the Savior and to “do good continually” (Mosiah 5:2).  Moroni wrote so that we could “be persuaded to do good continually” and “come unto the fountain of all righteousness” (Ether 8:26).  In our dispensation the Lord promised that “the power is in [us]” to “do good” (D&C 58:28).  He encouraged us, “Fear not to do good,” and He taught that we are to “trust in that Spirit which leadeth to do good” (D&C 6:33, 11:12).  In whatever circumstance that we are in, the Lord wants us to look for ways to do good and serve His children around us.  The popular hymn asks us to evaluate how we are doing with regards to this command: “Have I done any good in the world today?”  Perhaps as we face the common question, “How are you doing?” we should do a more thorough examination of ourselves before we respond automatically that we are “doing good.”  As we think about the kinds of statements that might be made at a funeral service to summarize someone’s life, surely there are few things we should desire more to be said of us than what was said of Shiblon, “He did observe to do good continually.”