Daily Devotional September 10, 2026
John Wesley’s first general rule was simple: Do No Harm. But he didn’t stop there. He believed a life and one’s relationship with God are built thread by thread out of everything a person does. This echoes Paul’s words in Romans 8:28: “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose.”
We tend to hear that verse and think of hardship — losses and setbacks God somehow redeems. But the verse says all things, and that includes the goodness already filling your life: friendships, work done well, quiet mornings, songs sung on Sunday. God isn’t only stitching together your wounds; He is building you through your joys too.
For a long time, I read this verse through the lens of my own failures. The seasons when God worked good out of a mess I’d made myself — a wrong turn, a consequence I brought on myself — those were the moments I pointed to as proof of Romans 8:28. And they were real; God does redeem our failures.
But I’ve come to see something I missed for years: some of the deepest shaping in my life hasn’t come from failure at all. It’s come from following God’s leading even when every instinct wanted a different direction — choosing obedience over preference, trusting His guidance toward a place I wouldn’t have chosen. Those weren’t failures redeemed; they were faithfulness formed. God used that obedience just as powerfully as He ever used my mistakes, maybe more so, because it was built on trust instead of cleanup.
This is what makes “do no harm” bigger than avoidance. Wesley knew character isn’t formed in a handful of dramatic moments — it’s formed in thousands of small, repeated choices, most of them good ones we barely notice ourselves making: a kind word offered unasked, patience extended to someone having a hard week, obedience chosen even when it costs us our own plans. None of these feel significant in the moment. But God is weaving each one into the good He’s forming in us.
This is also why Wesley paired “do no harm” with two other rules: do good, and stay in love with God through worship, prayer, and Scripture. These weren’t separate tracks — one continuous life, each act of obedience adding its thread to the whole. Romans 8:28 isn’t a promise that only activates when things fall apart; it describes how God works all the time — through our failures, yes, but just as much through the good we choose and the guidance we follow, even when we would have chosen differently. So, consider where you’ve followed His leading against your own instincts, and trust God has been shaping you there all along.
-Chris Lambert, Director, Meals on Wheels, Oklahoma City
