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The problem with family is this: history. When you’re connected to them for so long, there are infinite opportunities to be disappointed, frustrated, and resentful. Over time, we allow our hurts, pain, and anger to build and solidify in our hearts, making our ability to see our family through a grace-filled and compassionate lens more and more difficult. Suddenly, the people we are most closely related to are the ones we feel most reluctant to reach out to or help. That makes this proverb especially convicting in the context of our families.

If we are capable of offering good to others—if it is in our power to do so—this proverb says not to withhold it. Offer it. Give it. Do it for anyone who needs it, including your family. That doesn’t mean we enable bad behaviors or ignore poor choices. The point is more about doing good than it is about what that good may be. It’s more about our willingness to extend goodness to them no matter how challenging it is. And while the proverb says not to withhold good from those who deserve it, the truth is, as children of God who bear God’s image, everyone deserves to be shown kindness, mercy, love, and goodness.

Why not start with family?