Faith Under FireSample

The bad part about being good

Few people in biblical history have let their lights shine in a broken culture quite like Daniel did. Yet his obedience wasn’t met with widespread applause but with petty persecution. “Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom. At this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs” (Daniel 6:3,4). What did Daniel get for his exceptional qualities? Petty jealousy. Dudes who started digging into Daniel’s closet and scrolling through his teenage social media posts, hoping to edit together a documentary called The Dark Side of Daniel.

Isn’t envy ugly? Sometimes you do the right thing—you work hard, serve others, and use your God-given gifts—and you get the best grade, the rare scholarship, the starting spot, or the big promotion. But some people (because they’re people) won’t be happy for you. Their insecurity will come after you—with petty criticisms of your flaws, unfair accusations about how you became successful, and impossible standards they expect you to live up to.

Expect that even if you do good, some people will respond with something bad. But also expect God to know your heart and to stand by your side. Despite the bad reactions of some, it’s still good to be good.