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Bible studies |
| Dear God, Teach us about the fruit of your goodness. Develop it in us. Let others see you in us. In Jesusβs name, Amen πππππππππππππππππππππ Galatians 5:22-23 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. πππππππππππππππππππππ What is Goodness as a fruit of the Spirit? goodness (dictionary definition) 1. the quality of being morally good or virtuous. 2. the beneficial or nourishing element of food. What do you think about when you think of goodness? I think of following all the rules and of doing what is right. The opposite of good crosses my mind because I am thinking about what it is not. We think of being a Christian as acting good. We all know we are expected to be good or face the consequences rather we are a Christian or not. To be good means to be of high quality, but not necessarily excellent. Goodness as a fruit of the Spirit means being holy and virtuous. When you exhibit this kind of goodness, you do not need acknowledgement or reward. This goodness is motivated by righteousness. Goodness that comes from the Holy Spirit is never selfish, arrogant, or hurtful to others. Doing good works without a good heart is meaningless and empty. Goodness only develops in us through grace, mercy, and love. A life of goodness is filled with acts motivated by righteousness and a true desire to help others. βBeing good, kind, generous, virtuous, and striving for high quality should be nurtured, modeled, and encouraged by all. If we embrace, encourage, and reinforce goodness in self and others, we could pivot our world toward a much better place.β -Thomas Plante Goodness is doing kindness. In fact, some Bible translations say kindness instead of Goodness. It is having a heart that truly loves other people. God Is Good Goodness reflects the character of God. Psalms 27:13-14 ▼ God wants to help us. He is good. He is merciful. Psalms 106:1 ▼ Psalms 100:4-5 ▼ God is good and does good. He treats his own very good. Psalms 119:66-68 ▼ The Goodness of God is what leads people to repentance. Romans 2:4 ▼ Are people naturally good or evil? https://www.fearlessculture.design/blog-posts/is-the-human-nature-good-or-evil According to this article, there is evidence that we are born with some sense of what is good and evil. Humans naturally choose good over evil. I found this to be interesting. We know we are born with the nature of sin. However, it wasn't originally that way. When God created Adam and Eve, he declared his creation good. It would make sense when considering this that we are naturally born good. Genesis 1:26-31 ▼ When Adam and Eve committed the first sin is when humans were introduced to evil. They hadnβt known sin until they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Now because humans are able to discern good from evil, sin entered into our world. Hmm! Now we are born with a sin nature because we are able to determine right from wrong? These are interesting thoughts. From this I gather that possibly we are born with potentially both good and evil natures. Thus, we have the war in our flesh between good and evil. Being good or evil is a choice. This article says we are naturally good. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/scientists-probe-human-nature-and-dis... I would love to here your thoughts on this. What do you think? Are humans born naturally good or evil? This could turn into a whole other Bible study. π€·ββοΈπ Goodness Versus Righteousness I think there is a very fine line here and goodness and righteousness can overlap each other. One website describes goodness as the state or characteristic of being good. It describes righteousness as the quality or state of being holy. Righteousness is comprehending holy principles and controlling affections of the heart. Righteousness is conforming to the divine law. I think for understanding this study and goodness as a fruit of the Spirit, I will look at different types or levels of goodness. Obviously, we want to strive for righteousness. However, we can be good and not righteous. We want to strive for the good that leads to righteousness. We want to have pure goodness that comes from the heart level. But, what if I told you that all of our good works do not make us righteous? Well, they don't. We can have goodness that pertains to righteousness. We can be considered good and still not be saved. We can do good works with the wrong motives. We can act evil with good intentions. So what makes someone good? True goodness comes from within, not just the out ward things we do. It is not achieved through self-effort. We must surrender ourselves to live out the goodness of God through the Holy Spirit. What makes us righteous? Romans chapter 3 says there is no one who is righteous or good. We have all come short of God's glory. The only way for us to be righteous is through faith in Jesus Christ and his righteousness. We can not earn it through good works. We are only saved by the grace of God. Once we are saved, we are made a new creature(born again). We are created in Christ Jesus for the purpose of doing good works. Romans 3:10-12 ▼ Romans 3:23-26 ▼ Ephesians 2:8-10 ▼ I think in this passage of Matthew Δ«t is speaking of good in a sense of being righteous. Again it establishes that this kind of goodness comes from the heart. It isn't just about keeping the law and doing good works. Matthew 19:16-22 ▼ Gods seals us and marks us as his own. 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 ▼ Why do good works? If good works donβt make us righteous, what is the purpose of doing good works? Because it brings glory to God When people see your good works it brings glory to God in heaven. Matthew 5:16 ▼ Producing the Fruit of Goodness βThe battleline between good and evil runs through the heart of every man.β -Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn βGood people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws.β -Plato We need to strive towards walking and living in the Spirit of Christ. We should avoid gratifying the deeds of the flesh. Galatians 5:16-17 ▼ The fruit of the Spirit, goodness, puts emphasis on moral values. With the Holy Spirit and the Word of God, we can produce goodness in our life. When the Lord is our shepherd, we not only produce goodness, it follows and pursues us. Psalms 23:6 ▼ Psalms 104:27-28 ▼ It is God who establishes goodness in our hearts. 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 ▼ God not only establishes goodness in our hearts. He fills our heart full of it. Ephesians 5:8-9 ▼ Romans 15:14 ▼ A good person is a person who is pleasing to God. They are filled with the Holy Spirit. They keep God's commands, deny themselves, uses their talents and lives for God's glory, and keeps their conversation good and clean. People like good people. Don't become weary of doing good. Press on. Continue to do good always. Galatians 6:7-10 ▼ When we live under the power of the Holy Spirit, there is no question in my mind that we will be accepted by God into heaven. We will be good and faithful servants of Jesus Christ. Matthew 25:21 ▼ Resources ▼ Jesus is my permanent anchor!   |
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