Goodness

INTRODUCTION

Galatians 5:22–23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is….love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

Can anyone recite this verse?

Tonight we are going to talk about Goodness.

QUESTION: What comes to mind when you think about goodness?

Moral uprightness

Integrity

doing good deeds

dependable

doing the right thing

Bruce Barton said, “Reaching out to do good to others, even if they don’t deserve it. Goodness does not react to evil but absorbs the offense and responds with positive action”

There are two different aspects to this word:

1) Positive moral qualities

BDAG: positive moral quality characterized by interest in the welfare of others

This is the most common meaning of the word “goodness”

And many people would consider themselves to be good

They may be morally upright

They may be generous

They may be good parents

They may faithful to their families or workplace

BUT biblical goodness has to do with doing the RIGHT KIND of behavior

There is a difference in good behavior and right behavior

Matthew 5:43–45 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”

Being good also means to oppose evil

Isaiah 5:20 “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!”

Not everything the world calls good is not good

What is good is what God calls good

So we must get our knowledge about what is good from the Bible

Question: What are some things the world calls good that God says is not good? What are some things that the world calls bad that God says is good?

2) The societal misconception of being good

It is commonly believed that people are good

Many claim that they will go to heaven because they consider themselves to be “good”

And if they are not good, then no one is going because they consider themselves to be high up on the “goodlist!”

The Bible says:

Mark 10:18 “And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.”

Romans 3:10–12 “as it is written, “There is none righteous, not even one; There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one.””

“Being good” will never get anyone into heaven

Matthew 19:16–17 “And someone came to Him and said, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?” And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.””

We all need forgiveness, we need redemption, we need regeneration and only then can we truly be good

True goodness is gift that comes from the Holy Spirit

3) Goodness also includes being generous

It is interesting “goodness” is also translated: generosity

Matthew 20:15 “‘Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own? Or is your eye envious because I am generous?’” (ἀγαθός)

Gal 5:22 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness...” (ἀγαθωσύνη)

The owner is not being exactly fair in this parable, but is erring on the side of generosity. It was not these men’s fault that they had not been hired at the beginning of the day, yet they still needed a day’s wage to feed their families; so the owner chooses to be good and pay them all a day’s wage even though they worked less.

To be generous is to freely give more of something than is necessary or expected

The Bible gives several examples of generosity

The woman who used an entire vial of expensive perfume on Jesus

The church who gave beyond their ability to help another church

King David who gave of the spoils from a battle to those who did not help

Joseph who gave to his brothers all their money back after buying grain from him

Promises to those who are generous

You will have your needs met

Proverbs 28:27 “He who gives to the poor will never want, But he who shuts his eyes will have many curses.”

Your children will be blessed

Psalm 37:26 “All day long he is gracious and lends, And his descendants are a blessing.”

You will have more joy

Acts 20:35 ““In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ””

You will end up with more

Luke 6:38 ““Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.””

QUESTION: Any examples of how being generous has blessed your life?

I gave 40 dollars to hitchhiker

God has consistently taken care of us no matter how much we give

4) God’s Goodness

God is a good God

This may seem so elementary, but it is so profound and often hard for us to believe

God is not against us, nor does He enjoy it when we suffer or experience hardships.

He is not waiting on us to mess up so He can cast down judgement

Scripture

Psalm 136:1 “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, For His lovingkindness is everlasting.”

It is a good idea to thank God for His goodness in your prayers

Exodus 33:19 “And He said, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.””

"all My goodness”

not a little bit good, but extremely good!

Genesis 50:20 ““As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.”

God even uses bad things that happen to us, for our good

The character of God is good

There is no deceit in Him

There is no crookedness in Him

He is trustworthy

His ways are perfect

QUESTION: When do you tend to doubt God’s goodness? Examples?

5) Our call to do good

It is what we created to do

Ephesians 2:10 “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”

2 Corinthians 9:8 “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed;”

None of us is lacking what we need to do good

It is simply a matter of choice

Be consistent

Galatians 6:9–10 “Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.”

This should be a pattern in our lives

We must not do good to receive good, but do good because God has already been good to us

Love what is good

Titus 1:8 “but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled,”

Romans 12:9 “Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.”

We live in an age of compromise! The church is so willing to compromise to get people in the seats

We are so willing to compromise to fulfill the desires of the flesh

LOVE WHAT IS GOOD!

TRAIN YOUR HEART TO LOVE WHAT IS GOOD!