10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
We have responsibility to both those outside the family of believers and those inside the family. As Jesus-followers we are to be about the business of working for the good of everyone around us. We need to be working to get everyone moving toward the moral high ground, toward the most good for the most people. This is not an alternative gospel, but simply an outcome of godly living. If we are doing good and working toward the good in others, we are going to be changing the world in small and large ways that reflect the character of God. It does not change the essential character of those around us, but it causes us to curb our own sinful desire to place our own needs above the needs of others. Notice that we are to be waiting for and looking out for opportunities that arise. We don’t necessarily make those opportunities. They are ones that God creates and we participate in. This work is about an attitude about those with whom we share this planet. We are to be working toward the morally good, not the morally reprehensible. This world would certainly be a nicer place to live if we were all seeking the best in each other. Instead, we often seek to tear the other down in order to raise ourselves up. Our attitude needs changing. We need to be seeking the good, not for ourselves, but for the other. This is what Jesus did when He died in our place. He was seeking our good, not His own. When we give blood, we are seeking the good of another. When we volunteer our time to improve literacy we are seeking the good of another. These types of activities, if done for the right reasons, can benefit others and be these types of good acts that lead to an increase in the good in another. But they bring salvation. They can only be instruments of God if they are led by the Holy Spirit from beginning to end. Then the temporal good can last into eternity.
The Arnold Journey 