Goodness, Part 1

The fruit of goodness seems so obvious and straightforward, that I kind of struggled with writing about it for this blog. I mean, it’s just being good, right? Well, yes and no. I want to look at what that really means. First, let’s define goodness. According to dictionary.com, goodness means: “1. the state or quality of being good; 2. moral excellence; virtue; 3. kindness, generosity; … or 5. the best part of anything, essence, strength.”

The very definition of goodness makes it seem impossible to attain. I mean, who among us is really morally excellent or “the best part of anything.” I’d love to tell you that Scripture is more encouraging on this, but listen to what the Bible has to say about goodness and humans. Jeremiah 13:23 states, “Can the … leopard [change] its spots? Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil.” Romans 3:12 tells us that “there is no one who does good, not even one.” Matthew 19:17 says, “There is only One who is good.” I can tell you that is not talking about you or me!

Both the definition and Scripture paint a bleak picture of our goodness as human beings and of our capacity to be good. Basically, we are not good. At all. Not even if we try. But here is the hope of Scripture – God provides a way for us to break free from our naturally evil natures and experience His goodness.

The apostle Paul describes the struggle and the solution in his letter to the Romans. He says, “So I find this law at work: when I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God – through Jesus Christ our Lord!” We are incapable of being good apart from Jesus. But God promises to help us! Without Him, we are nothing. Apart from Him, we can bear no fruit, especially the fruit of goodness.

The Bible also says that good things can come from good stored within us. Matthew 12:35. The only way to store up good things in our heart is to meditate upon and learn God’s Word. We already saw that God and His Word are the only sources of good. So that is what we must store up in our hearts. Then we can draw upon God’s goodness stored within us to know and do what is good. I know I’m repeating myself, but I cannot stress enough that we cannot be good apart from God. The Bible is clear on that. Our connection to and relationship with God is vitally important to our production of the fruit of goodness. So, the first step towards the fruit of goodness is to make sure we are connecting with God regularly.

God shows us what is good by the example of Jesus Christ and through His Word. Micah 6:8 says, “He has showed you, O Man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” There is a definition of being good right there. We are to focus first on our walk with God and to be humble in that walk, always remembering that it is God in us that enables us to follow these commands. Then we are to be just in our actions and to be merciful always. So, this is one concrete thing we can do to encourage goodness in our lives – in each circumstance, act justly and love mercy.

As you go through this holiday season and deal with often-stressful situations, take time to study God’s word and learn what He has for us. Then look for opportunities to be, do and say what is good.