Hello once again!
The word that we'll be studying today, from Galatians 5:22-23 (the Fruit of the Spirit), is goodness.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23 ESV)
So, what is goodness? We use "good" for such a wide variety of things and in such a wide variety of ways, that our understanding of this word may have become a little watered down. I promise not to throw you another all-out Greek definition (at least today), but in short, this word basically means being "virtuous, charitable, actively good." So Who can we look to to demonstrate this goodness? I sure hope you know the answer to this one! It's Jesus, whose entire life was a testimony to the goodness of God. So now, let's look to the Word for something we can grab a hold of regarding this topic.
And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. (Mark 10:17-18 ESV)
At first glance, this verse doesn't seem to help much; in fact, it seems perplexing. "Is Jesus denouncing His own goodness?" you might ask. Well no, He's not. Read it over and you'll find that not once does He deny His own goodness. (Think about it this way: why would we call Jesus good, if God alone is good? Simple, because Jesus is God.) So now we know that 1) God alone is good and that 2) Goodness, as a fruit of the Spirit, comes from God alone. If we have "crucified the flesh with it's passions and desires" and have invited the Spirit of God to dwell within our souls, we will find that this goodness will begin to manifest itself in our lives as well. However, this happens not by anything we have done, but by the grace and "goodness" of God alone:
All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one. (Romans 3:12 ESV)
I hope you will join in with my prayers that the goodness of God may shine out through our lives as we live to glorify Him and His greatness!
You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. (Matthew 5:14-15 ESV)
Blessings,
Andrew
