Bread From Heaven

Fruits of the Spirit - Goodness

Dear God,
Teach us about the fruit of your goodness. Develop it in us. Let others see you in us.
In Jesus’s name,
Amen

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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.

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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.

“Being 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.” -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 ▼

13 I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
14 Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.

God wants to help us. He is good. He is merciful.
Psalms 106:1 ▼

Praise ye the Lord. O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

Psalms 100:4-5 ▼

4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
5 For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

God is good and does good. He treats his own very good.
Psalms 119:66-68 ▼

66 Teach me good judgment and knowledge: for I have believed thy commandments.
67 Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word.
68 Thou art good, and doest good; teach me thy statutes.

The Goodness of God is what leads people to repentance.
Romans 2:4 ▼

Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?

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 ▼

26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.
31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

When Adam and Eve committed the first sin is when humans were introduced to evil. They hadn’t 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. 🤷‍♀️😊

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 ▼

10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

Romans 3:23-26 ▼

23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

Ephesians 2:8-10 ▼

8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

I think in this passage of Matthew īt 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 ▼

16 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?
17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
18 He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,
19 Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
20 The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?
21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.

Gods seals us and marks us as his own.
2 Corinthians 1:21-22 ▼

21 Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God;
22 Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.

Why do good works?

If good works don’t 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 ▼

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Producing the Fruit of Goodness

“The battleline between good and evil runs through the heart of every man.”
-Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

“Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws.” -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 ▼

16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

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 ▼

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Psalms 104:27-28 ▼

27 These wait all upon thee; that thou mayest give them their meat in due season.
28 That thou givest them they gather: thou openest thine hand, they are filled with good.

It is God who establishes goodness in our hearts.
2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 ▼

16 Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace,
17 Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.

God not only establishes goodness in our hearts. He fills our heart full of it.
Ephesians 5:8-9 ▼

8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:
9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)

Romans 15:14 ▼

And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another.

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 ▼

7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
10 As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

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 ▼

His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

Resources ▼

https://412teens.org/qna/what-is-goodness-as-a-Fruit-of-the-Spirit.php

https://www.ospreyobserver.com/2020/09/the-fruit-of-the-holy-spirit-what-is-good...

https://letitbeginanew.wordpress.com/2013/10/23/fruit-of-the-spirit-goodness/

https://slideplayer.com/slide/8247195/

https://www.slideshare.net/ChrissyYCDSB/are-we-good

https://slidetodoc.com/galatians-5-22-23-niv-but-the-fruit/

https://www.scu.edu/illuminate/thought-leaders/thomas-plante/nurturing-the-spiri...


Goodness vs righteousness
https://wikidiff.com/righteousness/goodness

https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/39669/what-is-the-difference-be...

https://lynnhpryor.com/2016/09/12/the-difference-between-the-good-and-the-righte...

https://fundamentalbaptistchristian.blogspot.com/2011/05/difference-between-good...

Are we born good or evil?

https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/11/health/nonviolence-good-wisdom-project/index.html...

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20130114-are-we-naturally-good-or-bad

Jesus is my permanent anchor!