Goodness (Final?)

Intro

Today we are continuing to go through the fruits of the Spirit with Goodness.

Goodness is a loaded term. When we think of goodness there may be some overlap with kindness.

There may be thoughts of a friend who is there for you. It might bring up thoughts about general people that we would call good people.

We may think a person who is good is a nice person.

They are someone that is decent, kind, polite, pleasant.

These are all common thoughts that we closely associate with goodness.

But one question that I have wondered is , how should we actually define goodness. Because I am willing to bet that many of us have some internal interpretation of the word that probably varies slight between each of us. Each of us define it in our own way.

This is a term that is used frequently in scripture and honestly something we use frequently in life. I think that to fully understand the reality of a word like goodness, we need to settle on some definition that fits within our christian world view, not just our own personal view.

Even the word Paul uses in Galatians 5 helps us see this. The Greek word translated “goodness” is ἀγαθωσύνη — agathōsynē. It carries the idea of uprightness of heart and life, moral goodness, active benevolence, and goodness that shows itself in action.

In other words, goodness is something that is rooted in God’s character and then expressed in the way a person lives.

So when we talk about goodness today, we are talking about this: goodness is the active expression of a heart transformed by God. It is God’s active love working through us.

Goodness Looks Like God

With that in mind, if we are going to understand goodness, we cannot start with ourselves.

That is one of the problems we run into immediately when we talk about goodness. We usually begin by thinking about people we know. Someone who is nice, generous, patient, or polite. Someone who tries to do the right thing.

And those are good things. But if we begin with people, we will always end up with a smaller, weaker definition of what goodness really is.

Because people are inconsistent.

The kindest person you know still has selfish moments. The most generous person still has limits. The most patient person still gets frustrated. The most morally upright person still has hidden motives, blind spots, and sins they need to confess before God.

If we want to know what goodness is, we have to begin with God.

That is why Ephesians 5 begins this way:

“Therefore, be imitators of God, as dearly loved children, and walk in love, as Christ also loved us and gave himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God.”

Before Paul tells us what our lives should look like, he tells us who we are meant to imitate.

“Be imitators of God.”

That is an incredible phrase.

Paul does not say, “Try to be better people, more respectable, nicer than the people around you.” He says, “Be imitators of God.”

In other words, Christian goodness is not measured by whether we are slightly more moral than the world around us. Goodness is measured by the character of God Himself.

Goodness looks like God.

And that matters because in our culture, goodness can become a very flexible word. We call something good if enough people approve of it.

But Scripture does not let us define goodness by personal preference, cultural opinion, or emotional instinct.

Goodness is not whatever I want it to be. Goodness is not whatever the majority says it is.

Goodness is rooted in the character of God.

God is good because goodness belongs to His very nature. He is the standard. He is the definition. He is the source.

That is why Psalm 34:8 says, “Taste and see that the LORD is good.” Psalm 100 says, “For the LORD is good, and his faithful love endures forever.” Psalm 145 says, “The LORD is good to everyone; his compassion rests on all he has made.”

Goodness is not something God occasionally puts on. Goodness is who He is. and we see that all through scripture.

You have maybe heard the phrase, “God is good all the time. And all the time, God is good.”

I do not know where that originally came from, but it is true.

Everything God does flows from His good character.

When God creates, He creates in goodness. When God commands, He commands in goodness. When God judges, He judges in goodness. When God shows mercy, He shows mercy in goodness. When God saves, He saves in goodness.

And we see this from the very beginning of the Bible.

In Genesis 1, the earth is formless and empty. Darkness is over the surface of the deep. Then God speaks: “Let there be light.” And there was light.

Then Genesis 1:4 says, “God saw that the light was good.”

That is the first time the word “good” appears in Scripture.

Notice what is happening. He is declaring goodness. He is showing that goodness comes from Him and is defined by Him. He does this throughout the rest of the creation story as well.

And again and again, Genesis tells us, “God saw that it was good.”

So from the first page of the Bible, goodness is a result of God’s active hand in creation.

That means goodness is not merely the absence of badness.

Sometimes that is how we think of goodness. “I am good because I did not do the wrong thing. I did not lie. I did not cheat. I did not yell. I did not hurt anybody.”

And of course, avoiding evil matters. But biblical goodness is more than not doing bad things.

Goodness is the active presence of God’s character.

That is why I want us to think about goodness this way:

Goodness is the active expression of a heart transformed by God.

Goodness is Active!

Or to say it another way, goodness is God’s active love working through us.

And that starts with God Himself.

Now, notice how Paul says this in Ephesians 5: “Be imitators of God, as dearly loved children.”

Paul is not saying, “Imitate God so that God will love you.”

That is not the gospel.

He says, “Be imitators of God, as dearly loved children.”

In other words, you imitate God because you already belong to Him. You imitate your Father because you are His child. You do not imitate God to earn your way into His family. You imitate God because, by grace, He has brought you into His family.

Any Goodness that exists in us begins with our identity in God.

We are dearly loved children.

And children imitate what they see.

A child will repeat a phrase they heard their parent say. They will copy the way their dad stands or the way their mom talks. They imitate because they are watching. They are learning. They are absorbing the life of the household.

Paul says that is what the Christian life is meant to look like.

We have been brought into the family of God, and now we begin to resemble our Father.

The Spirit of God begins forming the character of God in the children of God. That’s what the Fruits of the Spirit are, the Character of God in us.

So we must be careful not to reduce goodness to merely having a pleasant temperament or being good natured.

Biblical goodness is deeper than a nice personality.

Niceness often wants to avoid discomfort. Goodness wants to reflect God, even when that is uncomfortable.

Niceness may stay quiet because it does not want tension. Goodness speaks truth in love.

Niceness may give because it wants approval. Goodness gives because God is generous.

Niceness may avoid evil because it does not want trouble. Goodness overcomes evil with good.

So when Paul says, “Be imitators of God,” he is calling us to become the kind of people whose lives reflect the God who has saved us.

And this is humbling and honestly freeing, because none of us can claim to be good in ourselves. Our motives are mixed. Our love is limited. Our mercy is selective. Our goodness often depends on our mood, our comfort, and whether we think the other person deserves it.

But it is also hopeful, because the God who calls us to goodness is the same God who produces goodness in us by His Spirit.

He does not merely stand far away and say, “Be good.”

He brings us to Christ. He forgives our sin. He gives us His Spirit. He makes us His children. And then He begins forming His own character in us.

So before we talk about what goodness looks like in our lives, we have to start here:

Goodness looks like God.

God is the source. God is the standard. God is the definition. God is the example. And God is the one who produces goodness in His people.

Goodness begins in a transformed heart

So the next logical question is how does that goodness begin to show up in us?

And this matters because there is a version of goodness that can be manufactured on the outside while the heart remains unchanged on the inside.

A person can learn religious behavior, polite language, how to appear generous, kind, disciplined, or moral. A person can learn what to say, when to say it, and how to carry themselves in a way that looks respectable.

But biblical goodness is not merely behavior modification.

True goodness begins in a transformed heart.

That is why Paul does not simply say, “Act like God. and here’s a list of dos and donts”

He says in Ephesians 5, “Be imitators of God, as dearly loved children.”

He starts with identity before behavior. He starts with who we are before he talks about what we do.

That is the pattern of the gospel. Who we are to God.

And we see this clearly in the broader flow of Ephesians.

In Ephesians 2:1–3, Paul reminds the church what they were before Christ. He says they were dead in their trespasses and sins. They were walking according to the ways of the world. They were following the desires of the flesh. They were, by nature, children under wrath.

That is a pretty intense diagnosis.

He is calling out their spiritual death.

And spiritually dead people cannot produce spiritual fruit.

The fruits of the Spirit are not the product of human willpower. Strong arming the things we “are supposed to do.”

We can only restrain certain behaviors for a while. We can improve our manners. We can become more socially acceptable. But we cannot produce the fruit of the Spirit apart from the Spirit.

But then Ephesians 2:4–10 gives us some of the most beautiful words in Scripture:

“But God.”

After Paul has called out the spiritual deadness, go goes on to say

“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us, made us alive with Christ even though we were dead.”

That is transformation.

God takes spiritually dead people and makes them alive. He gives new life. He raises us with Christ. He saves us by His grace.

And then Paul says in Ephesians 2:10, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.”

That verse is so important for understanding goodness.

We are not saved by good works. But we are saved partially for good works.

Good works do not create our new identity in Christ. They flow from our new identity in Christ.

In other words goodness is not the root of our salvation, but the fruit of our salvation.

And that is exactly the language Paul uses in Galatians 5 when he talks about the fruit of the Spirit.

Fruit grows because there is life in the tree.

An apple tree does not strain to tape apples onto its branches. The fruit reveals the life that is already inside the tree. In the same way, goodness is not a religious decoration we attach to ourselves so people will think we are spiritual. Goodness is evidence that the Spirit of God is giving life to our hearts.

Jesus said something very similar in Luke 6:43–45. He said, “A good tree doesn’t produce bad fruit; on the other hand, a bad tree doesn’t produce good fruit.” Then He says, “Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.”

In other words, what comes out of us reveals what is going on inside of us. Which to be honest, has been gutting to me lately.

Our words reveal the heart. Our reactions reveal the heart. Our generosity reveals the heart. Our bitterness reveals the heart. Our patience, or lack of patience, reveals the heart. Our willingness to forgive reveals the heart. Our private desires reveal the heart.

This does not mean believers are perfect. It does not mean that every true Christian always responds with goodness. We still battle the flesh. We still sin. We still need grace every day.

But it does mean that the Spirit of God is doing real internal work in the people of God.

Goodness begins where nobody else can see.

It begins in the desires God changes. It begins in the motives God purifies. It begins in the affections God redirects. It begins in the heart God brings from death to life.

And this is where we need to be honest with ourselves.

Sometimes we want the fruit of goodness without the surrender of the heart.

We want to be known as good people, but we do not want God to confront our pride. We want to be seen as loving, but we do not want God to touch our bitterness. We want to appear generous, but we do not want God to challenge our selfishness. We want to be thought of as faithful, but we do not want God to expose our hidden compromises. We want the reputation of goodness without the sacrifice that goodness requires.

But the Spirit is not interested in decorating an unchanged heart.

The Spirit transforms the heart.

And that transformation is often slower than we would like, but deeper than we realize.

Sometimes God changes us through conviction. We hear His Word, and suddenly we see something in ourselves we did not want to see.

Sometimes God changes us through suffering. The pressure exposes what is really inside, and then God uses that exposure to refine us.

Sometimes God changes us through community. A brother or sister lovingly confronts us, encourages us, or models something we need to learn.

Sometimes God changes us through ordinary obedience. We choose truth again. We choose forgiveness again. We choose generosity again. We choose repentance again. And over time, the Spirit forms new patterns in us.

And this is hopeful, because many of us know the discouragement of trying to change ourselves.

We try to be more patient, but then pressure comes. We try to be less selfish, but then inconvenience comes. We try to forgive, but then the hurt comes back to mind. We try to become the kind of person we know we should be, but then exhaustion, conflict, or disappointment exposes what is still in us.

That can be discouraging.

But here is something important to remember:

When God exposes what is in us, He is not doing it to destroy us. He is doing it to transform us.

The same God who made us alive in Christ is still at work in us by His Spirit.

So we do not look at the lack of goodness in our hearts and despair. We bring it to God. We confess it. We surrender it. We ask Him to keep forming the life of Christ in us.

Goodness begins when God takes spiritually dead people and makes them alive in Christ. It begins when the Spirit enters the heart and starts producing what the flesh could never produce on its own. It begins when dearly loved children begin to resemble their Father.

True Goodness has to begin in a transformed heart.

Goodness Moves Courageously Toward others in Action

And once that happens

At some point, goodness moves and becomes visible.

Goodness takes shape through our words, our choices, our generosity, our courage, our mercy, our truthfulness, and our love for other people.

It’s the active presence of God’s love.

Goodness asks, “How can I love God, and how can I love others?”

Which that is the greatest commandment, right? We see in Luke 10:27

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strenght, and mind. And Love your Neighbor as yourself.”

And we see this in Ephesians 5:2.

Paul says, “Walk in love, as Christ also loved us and gave himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God.”

That phrase matters: “walk in love.”

Paul does not say, “Think loving thoughts.” He does not say, “Have loving intentions.” He does not say, “Feel warmly toward people.”

He says, “Walk in love.”

In Scripture, our walk refers to the pattern and direction of our lives. It is how we live. It is what we practice. It is what becomes normal for us.

So goodness is something we walk in.

And the pattern is Jesus.

The love of Christ moves toward us. It gives. It sacrifices. It enters our needs. It comes into our darkness. It carries our burdens. It went to the cross for us.

So in that same way, if goodness is God’s active love working through us, then goodness will move toward others in action.

This is where we have to be careful not to confuse goodness with niceness.

Niceness often waits until helping is convenient. Goodness moves when love requires it.

Niceness often wants to be liked. Goodness wants to be faithful.

Niceness may avoid hard conversations because it does not want tension. Goodness speaks the truth in love.

Niceness may feel bad for someone and then move on. Goodness asks, “What can I do?”

One of the clearest pictures of this is the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37.

Jesus tells of a man who was attacked, stripped, beaten, and left half dead on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho. It was a busy road back then with many travelers. A priest sees the beaten man and passes by. Then a Levite sees him and passes by. These were religious people, like THE religous people. These were people who likely knew the Scriptures extremely well. These were people others may have considered respectable and good.

We aren’t told that they mocked him or stole from him or anything like that.

They simply passed by.

They avoided doing additional harm, but they did not do good.

Then a Samaritan sees the wounded man, and Jesus says he had compassion. And that is important because the Samaritans were kind of looked down on in religous circles.

This samaritans compassion led him to go over to the wounded man.

He bandaged his wounds. He poured on oil and wine. He put him on his own animal. He brought him to an inn. He took care of him. He paid for his continued care.

That is the definition of active goodness.

Goodness sees need and moves toward it.

Goodness interrupts its schedule. Goodness spends its resources. Goodness crosses uncomfortable boundaries. Goodness gets close enough to wounded people to be inconvenienced by their pain.

And this is important because many of us are better at feeling compassion than practicing compassion.

We feel bad. We say, “That is so sad.” We think, “Someone should help.” We may even pray, and prayer is good and necessary.

But sometimes prayer can become a way of keeping need at a safe distance when God may actually be calling us to move toward the person in front of us.

James 2:15–16 says something similar. If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food, and one of you says, “Go in peace, stay warm, and be well fed,” but you do not give them what the body needs, what good is it?

That is the question.

What good is it?

Goodness cannot remain only in our intentions. It must become action.

Remember, goodness is God’s active love working through us. Active is the key word.

This is why Paul says in Ephesians 2:10 that we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.

God has prepared a life of active goodness for His people, a life that displays His goodness to the world. Not our own.

That happens in our homes, in our church, in our workplaces, in our neighborhoods, in our conversations, in our generosity, in the way we respond to difficult people, and in the way we care for those who cannot repay us.

Goodness moves toward others in action.

But that action will often require courage.

Because goodness moves through a world where sin is real, evil is real, suffering is real, injustice is real, deception is real, and darkness is real.

That is why Paul tells us to walk as children of light.

In Ephesians 5:8–10, Paul says, “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light — for the fruit of the light consists of all goodness, righteousness, and truth — testing what is pleasing to the Lord.”

Notice how goodness is connected with light.

The fruit of the light consists of all goodness, righteousness, and truth.

So goodness will sometimes be gentle, but it will never be cowardly.

Goodness will sometimes be patient, but it will never make peace with evil.

Goodness will sometimes be quiet, but it will not be silent when love requires truth.

Many people think goodness means being harmless. But biblical goodness is not simply being harmless.

A lamp is not good because it avoids becoming darkness. A lamp is good because it shines.

A shepherd is not good because he politely ignores the wolf. A good shepherd protects the sheep.

Goodness has courage in the face of evil.

Romans 12:21 says, “Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good.”

Evil does not only want us to do obviously bad things like killing or adultery or whatever. Evil also wants to shape our responses to daily things in subtle ways.

When someone sins against us, evil wants us to become bitter. When someone mistreats us, evil wants us to retaliate. When we see suffering, evil wants us to grow numb. When truth is costly, evil wants us to stay silent. When holiness is unpopular, evil wants us to compromise. When mercy is inconvenient, evil wants us to pass by on the other side.

So Paul says, “Do not be conquered by evil.”

Do not let evil determine who you become.

Instead, “conquer evil with good.”

It takes courage to forgive when revenge would feel easier. It takes courage to bless when cursing would feel more natural. It takes courage to tell the truth when silence would protect your comfort. It takes courage to keep loving when love becomes costly. It takes courage to do what is right when nobody sees it, when nobody thanks you, and when it may cost you something.

But that is what goodness does.

Goodness moves toward the wounded with mercy and stands against darkness with truth.

And those two things must stay together.

If we have truth without mercy, we can become harsh. If we have mercy without truth, we can become sentimental.

But the fruit of the light is goodness, righteousness, and truth.

And again, we see this most clearly in Jesus.

Jesus moved toward sinners with mercy, but He never affirmed sin. He welcomed the broken, but He also called people to repentance. He was gentle with the weak, but He confronted the proud.

His goodness was never passive.

His goodness healed, fed, forgave, confronted,suffered, overcame evil.

And if His Spirit lives in us, then His goodness should begin to move through us.

Maybe goodness looks like initiating reconciliation. Maybe goodness looks like telling the truth gently but clearly. Maybe goodness looks like serving someone who cannot repay you. Maybe goodness looks like refusing to gossip. Maybe goodness looks like defending someone who is being mistreated.

The exact application may look different in each of our lives, but the calling is the same.

Walk in love.

Walk as children of light.

Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good.

Goodness points back to Jesus

And the best way for us to do that is to rmember

Goodness points back to Jesus.

If goodness looks like God, begins in a transformed heart, and moves toward others in action and courage, then the goal is not simply that people would look at us and say, “What good people.”

The goal is that they would see something of Christ in us.

Our displays of goodness should be about bearing witness to the One who has changed us.

Jesus says in Matthew 5:16, “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”

They see the good works, but the glory goes to the Father.

And that keeps us humble.

Because even when real goodness shows up in our lives, we do not get to take credit for it as though we manufactured it ourselves. Any true goodness in us is received goodness. It is grace-shaped goodness. It is the life of Christ being formed in us by the Spirit.

One writer summarized the beauty of God’s goodness this way:

“When goodness gives itself unconditionally and sacrificially, it becomes love; when it favors the guilty and undeserving, it is grace; when it reaches out to relieve suffering, it is mercy; when it shows patience toward those deserving punishment, it is long-suffering; when it reveals truth, it is truth itself; and when it bears the offense of sin and absolves guilt, it is forgiveness. These are not separate attributes competing for prominence but rather different expressions of a single divine perfection.”

And all of that comes together most clearly in Jesus.

At the cross, we see goodness giving itself sacrificially. We see his grace favoring the guilty and undeserving. We see his mercy reaching out to relieve our deepest suffering. We see his patience toward those deserving judgment. We see his truth refusing to pretend sin is small. We see his forgiveness bearing the offense of sin and absolving guilt.

The cross is where the goodness of God is displayed in its fullest and most costly form.

And that means following Jesus is not just some futile attempt at becoming a better person. Following Jesus is a life of pointing back to the One who was good for us when we were not good.

So as we close, the question is not merely, “Am I a good person?”

That question is too small.

The better question is: “Is the goodness of Jesus being formed in me?”

Because goodness is not about our image. It is about His glory.

The Spirit produces goodness in us so that our lives would become living witnesses to the goodness of God.

So may we be a people who do not settle for niceness when God has called us to goodness.

May we be a people whose hearts are transformed by grace.

May we be a people who move toward others in love.

May we be a people who have courage in the face of evil.

And may every bit of goodness in us point back to Jesus, the One who loved us and gave Himself for us.