Goodness...fruit of the Spirit study continues! Can we be "good"? What is goodness?

 

What is the definition of “goodness” as a fruit of the Spirit?

What is “goodness” all about?  

What does it mean to “be good”? 

If I say please and thank you to my mom, is that enough? 

Am I a good person if I try to help others? 

Does God think I’m a good person?

Wow, that’s a lot of questions. I guess “being good” is more complicated than we thought!

To learn about goodness, let’s look at Jesus.  

What does he say about goodness?

Once, a man came running up to Jesus, knelt down, called him “Good Teacher”, then asked a big, complicated question.  He called Jesus “Good Teacher” just to be polite, but Jesus called him out on it, because goodness is more than being a smart person or a good teacher.

Only God is truly good. To say that God is good means that he always does what is right. There is nothing bad or evil or dark about God, so he always chooses to do the right thing. 

He is GOOD, all the time.

Can you imagine being good all the time?   That means never lying, even a little bit. It means never saying something mean, or taking a cookie without permission, or yelling at your mom or feeling sorry for yourself.   Wow, that would be hard.

It is hard. In fact, it’s impossible to be truly good. That’s why Jesus said “only God is good”. But Jesus IS God, so when we look at Jesus’ life, we see the only human being who was ever truly good. Jesus was good even when no one was looking. 

That brings us to a problem.

If only God is good, then how can you and I grow in the fruit of goodness?

Can we ever be good?

Goodness starts by accepting that God forgave your sin through Jesus’ death on the cross. Then, it continues as the Holy Spirit works inside you to make you more like Jesus.

He helps you practice doing the right thing even when no one is looking, when life is hard, and even if your friends turn away because you follow Jesus.