GOODNESS – Fruit of the Spirit
Galatians 5:22 NKJV
But the fruit of the Spirit is … goodness,
It is God’s desire that we become good people through His Son Jesus. After all, when God created Man, before Man sinned in the Garden of Eden, God saw that Man was good. When God created the entire earth and all the creatures, God saw that all that He had created was good.
God is full of goodness, therefore only good can come from Him.
Genesis 1:31 NKJV
Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day
Goodness comes from the Greek word “ agathosune”, and can be defined as To be desired or approved of; That which is morally right or excellent; righteousness; best part of anything; Essence; Strength; kindness
This type of Goodness has the following attributes
- Goodness is a virtue of God
- We can have the quality of goodness inside us through the Holy Spirit. (Ephesians 5:9 :for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth)
- This type of Goodness does not discriminate; (Luke 6:33: “And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.”)
- Goodness comes first from inside of us and is motivated by the desire to please God; (Luke 6:45 : A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good…)
- This type of Goodness is genuine. It cannot be faked or counterfeited; it is not hypocritical (Matthew 6:1 :”Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven”)
- This type of goodness is NOT self-made but it is God made through Christ in us. We cannot go to Heaven or please God based on our own effort or our own goodness. It is only through the goodness and grace of God through Christ in us. (Ephesians 2:8-10 :For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. )
- This type of goodness leads people to repentance. (Romans 2:4: Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?)
Matthew 7:18-20 NKJV
A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
The fruit of Goodness comes to us through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in our lives. God is good. Therefore we need God by His Spirit to teach us to be good not only for ourselves, but also for others.
TODAY. Be good, just as God is good.