Fruit of the Spirit: Goodness

Fruit of the Spirit: Goodness

Galatians 5:22-23 describes the essential character of a Christian. While the first five Fruits of the Spirit describe a Christian's character, the sixth describes the core essence of God Himself ... God is good.

He IS goodness. He is where goodness comes from. It is this goodness that sets the Christian apart from the world. While the non-believer can exhibit all of the other fruits, one who is not at peace with God can never be good.

Why is that?

Like I mentioned earlier, goodness comes from God. God is the source. To be good, we must know God and allow Him to make us good.

You see, we all have some bad in us. and good and bad don’t mix. Goodness is not graded on a curve. There is no "mostly good" or "partly good." There is only one degree of goodness and that is when there is nothing bad at all.

Think of it like you would a glass of water. You can have pure, good water but if you put a drop of poison in it, it’s not good water any more. It’s not “partly good” or “mostly good” water. It’s bad water and you aren’t going to drink it, are you?

That’s how it is with us. You are either good or you are not. You either have God or you don’t. You can never be good without God because the only way bad people can become good is to be made clean and pure by God.

1 John 1:8-9

“If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

The Bible says that those who do not have this type of relationship with God are hostile towards Him. James explains it this way:

James 4:4

"Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God."

We can’t be good if we are at war with the source of goodness. The only way to possess goodness is to recognize that our glass of water is dirty and we need a change. We can never become good without it.

That’s what living for Christ is all about. He has cleansed me and made me whole. Amen and thank you, Lord!