Hi Ladies!
This week we continue thru the fruits of the Spirit with goodness. What is goodness? Is the ability to follow the rules? Is it just being better than those around us? If our goal is to do better than someone else, our standard is just too low. We don’t have to look far to find someone who, in our own eyes at least, is way deeper in sin than we are. But even prisons have a hierarchy of whose crime is worse. A thief looks good when compared to the murderer. The murderer thinks his sin was justified and feels the child molester is far deeper in the pit of moral depravity.
The only standard is God’s standard and the only one we should ever compare with is Jesus. He set the standard by living a sinless life. Moses gave ten commandments in the Old Testament. Ten simple rules to live by, but people weren’t able to abide by them. Then the Pharisees came up with 600 more rules to keep you from breaking the original ten. If you can’t keep ten, you certainly won’t keep another 600 on top of it. I don’t think I could remember 600 rules to follow! If following rules makes us good, then it’s plain that we just aren’t capable of being good on our own.
The best definition I found for goodness was “moral excellence”. We may never reach perfection, but moral excellence is undeniably something to strive for. The Bible refers to this moral excellence in Proverbs 31 where it gives the qualities of an excellent wife. The Proverbs woman is a good wife, a good mother and a good master to her servants. She is industrious, generous and wise. She has many qualities we should try to emulate.
Can we be good on our own merits? We might be able to do some good things, but true goodness is internal. It’s a fruit of the Spirit and a gift of God. We can only truly be good if we’re believers and the Holy Spirit lives in us. It’s the Holy Spirit that transforms us from the inside out and that is what allows us to do good works. Goodness is putting the needs of others over the needs of self. It shows itself in our generosity, our support of others, as well as our mercy and forgiveness of others. These are all things that Jesus demonstrated and things we should try to imitate.
I believe that Ephesians 2:8-10 gives us the best picture of what biblical goodness really is. It says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
Our goodness and good works only come from God. It’s the change worked thru the Holy Spirit after we accept salvation, and even that is a work of God. The Holy Spirit changes our hearts to put others above self and that is where the goodness and good works come from. Not from our own personal goodness because Romans 3:10 tells us, “There is no one righteous, not even one.” All goodness comes from God and His work in our lives because He is the only one who is good.
So, this week, let’s try to live out the fruit of goodness. And if you haven’t visited our little church on the hill, join us, it’s worth the drive!
Lori Hug
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