Morning Y'all! I pray this post encourages you and gives God glory! Got suggested topics you want me to write about? Please comment below or email me at info@mocatoday.com.
It's Week 6 of the Fruit of the Spirit 5Ws series and this week we're reviewing the sixth fruit goodness. My prayer is that we learn how God biblically defines His fruit, how to express His fruit in our lives, and how to practically walk by the Spirit so we don't gratify the desires of our flesh (Galatians 5:16).
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. ~Galatians 5:22-23 (NKJV)
Fruit of the Spirit– Goodness
Who
Who can show goodness?
The Holy Spirit is a gift from God (Acts 2:38, 10:45) to glorify Jesus Christ (John 16:14) and only indwells in those that have:
Chosen to make Jesus Christ their personal Lord and Savior (John 14:26)
Believe Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins
Believe Jesus Christ resurrected three days later
Therefore, who can show goodness, a fruit of the Holy Spirit?
Answer:
True believers and followers of Jesus Christ because the Holy Spirit only indwells in them.
What
What is goodness?
First things first– Only God is good (Mark 18:10, Luke 18:19). Second, while badness comes naturally to us (Romans 8:7), goodness is the very nature of who God is, only sourced by the Holy Spirit, and is a choice– a selfless deliberate action, not an emotion or feeling. Third, goodness is defined as the state or quality of being good.
So, what is good? What does good actually mean?
God, not us, defines what is good and right (Books of Genesis, Exodus, Deuteronomy, Psalms, James 1:7, etc.). Good is God's morals, His righteousness, and His holiness in action. In other words, we can think of goodness as the state or quality of being God's morals, His righteousness, and His holiness in action.
We also see in scripture that:
God summarizes His standards of goodness in the Ten Commandments. (Exodus 20:2-17, Deuteronomy 5:6-17)
God's goodness is closely associated with righteousness and truth. (Ephesians 5:9)
God promises His children that for those who love Him, all things will work together for our good, according to His purposes. (Romans 8:28)
The Greek word for goodness is "agathosune" and is defined as "uprightness of heart and life" or uprightness in our very nature– who we actually are from the inside out, reflected in our choices, and how we live our lives.
Agathosune is goodness for the benefit of others also, not goodness simply for the sake of being virtuous. Someone with agathosune will selflessly act on behalf of others. Gotquestions.org explains, "Confronting someone about a sin demonstrates goodness. So is giving to the poor, providing for one’s children, visiting the sick, volunteering to clean up after a storm, and praying for an enemy. Expressions of goodness are as varied as the Spirit is creative."
When
When should we demonstrate goodness?
God desires goodness becomes who we are, what we choose to practice daily over darkness and sin.
In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. ~Matthew 5:16 (NIV)
God also desires good works are what we choose to demonstrate throughout our public and private lives, even when no one is watching, and we don't have an audience.
That is why we always pray for you. We ask our God to help you live the good way He wanted when He chose you. The goodness you have makes you want to do good. And the faith you have makes you work. We pray that with His power God will help you do these things more and more. ~2 Thessalonians 1:11 (ERV)
To bear the fruit of goodness is to,
First seek to live lives that God calls good, to be good at what he says He created us for. In addition, goodness is an invitation to fill our lives with good things. ~ibelieve.com
Grace Life Church describes,
Goodness is doing what is right, even when it isn’t easy. You know the difference between doing the right thing and the wrong thing, so putting goodness into action is choosing to do the right thing no matter what! Even when no one is looking and watching you do the right thing. Even when the right thing takes longer to do. Even when the right thing isn’t the fun thing to do. Even when the right thing isn’t easy and takes a lot of bravery and strength. When we choose to do the right thing in all of these areas, that is goodness!
Where
Where is goodness applicable?
The Bible has much to say about goodness! Remember, God's Word teaches us what is good, and our source of goodness is the Holy Spirit.
Grand Canyon University shares a few helpful examples:
The life of Jesus Christ is the perfect example of goodness, as He died on the cross for the sins of humanity to give us the gift of eternal life. His ministry and sacrifice are an example of God’s goodness toward mankind. After all, the term “gospel” means “good news”.
Peter, a disciple of Jesus, talks about the goodness of Jesus’s ministry in Acts 10:38– “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how He went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with Him.”
Jesus is called the “good shepherd” in scripture, because He laid down His life for His sheep.
Why
Why is goodness important?
There are four main reasons:
Goodness is good for us and those around us. Since true goodness reproaches hypocrisy, sin and evil, it makes a way for God's desire that the earth is full of His goodness (Psalm 33:4-5) possible through us.
We are to be a light showing what is truly moral—the beneficial commandments and righteousness of God. ~Lifehopeandtruth.com
To establish and mature our relationship with Jesus Christ. We learn what is good and how to embody and demonstrate goodness by way of the Holy Spirit, studying God's Word, and getting to know His Son personally.
Only God is good (Mark 18:10, Luke 18:19) and He calls believers to be like Him. As Christians, we are called to reflect the character of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20). Therefore, if the very essence of God's nature is goodness (the state or quality of being good from the inside out), and He demonstrates goodness to all, we are called to be and do the same.
God calls us to be filled with goodness from the inside out, being holy in what we do and say because Christians should have a heart that seeks goodness. We are not to just do good works, because doing good works without a good heart is empty. ~Osprey Observer
Draws people to God and leads them to repentance and salvation. Bibleknowledge.com explains it well– "If the goodness of God will lead people to repentance and salvation with Him, then the goodness of God operating through an anointed believer will have the ability to draw nonbelievers into salvation."
Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Remember, it's all about progression, not perfection! God loves you! With Him, you got this! Until next post, may God give you His peace and blessings!
~Natasha
Just a few reminders:
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Thanks for commenting Allison! It definitely can be hard at times confronting someone about sin. However, we know that we're called to love our brothers and sisters like Christ loves us. And, we know that Christ's love is action, includes reciprocity, and requires sin is confronted. Many will say, "Only God can judge me." And yes, that's true in terms of where we spend eternity. But, on earth, God calls us to sharpen each other (Proverbs 27:17) and to "keep each other honest" wherever possible by speaking the truth in love and confronting sin (Ephesians 4:15).
It should already be understood that none of us are perfect and sin-free. That's why WE ALL need a Savior, a personal relationship with…
Something that stuck out to me in this reading on goodness is on agathosune and that an example of being or demonstrating goodness is confronting someone about sin. Such a difficult thing to do because we all are with sin and don’t want to come across as judging.
Allison