Oh my goodness!

Once a month I meet with 3 other ladies in our church. 1 is my age, 1 is middle aged, and the other is a sweet little grandma. Every time we have met we have discussed a fruit of the spirit. We don't follow a bible study, we just each bring a verse or 2 and a thought or 2 about that fruit. I love those ladies and what they have taught me. So I thought Id share a little bit of what we discussed about this fruit of the spirit...

GOODNESS.

Now I am a word freak. I love scrabble, boggle, etc. But I also love word meaning games like Balderdash. I am on dictionary.com atleast once a week. Its not that I don't know what words mean, but sometimes I want to see a definition or some synonyms to get a deeper understanding of a word. So in preparation for this meeting, what did I do first? Looked up some definitions of "goodness."

Goodness, according to dictionary.com, is "excellence of quality" or "the best part of something." It refers to something that meets a certain standard or expectation. It fulfills the goal of the job. However, each person has different standards or expectation. But regardless of differing standards there is one thing in common - goodness brings about some benefit.

The Greek word for goodness is agathosune which means "good result or benefit."

Just think about it. We say, "That was a good sermon," because it benefited our hearts and hopefully resulted in a change in our life. We say, "That was a good hamburger," because that hamburger benefited our tummies and resulted in fullness.

But there is still that problem that each persons standards for good are different. What I think is good or good enough may not be what you say is good or good enough.

"A certain ruler asked him, 'Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?' 'Why do you call me good?' Jesus answered. 'No one is good-except God alone.'' - Luke 18:18-19

We often talk about "good" according to human standards, but how often do we remember that God alone sets the standard for goodness. When we say our efforts or our works are good, have we considered what God has expected? When we say a movie or a TV show is good, is it really what God would approve as good? When we think we are being good parents or spouses, have we considered the standard that God has set for a Godly household?

Now I'm not saying that everything you and I have ever done is worthless and is a waste of time. But I know that I am often content with my roles and my work because I label it as good according to what I think is good. I often fail to remember that God has so much more in store for me and has called me to so much more.

Now, don't beat yourself up and think, "Im not good enough!" (which was one of my first thoughts when we studied this). Remember that your life in Christ is not about you and how good you are. Its about HIM and how good HE is! But it is our calling as Christians to follow that perfect example of goodness. And we are at an advantage as Christians. When we become children of God we are heirs to everything that is his. Which means we DO have some goodness in us! Romans 1:14 says this...

"I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, complete in knowledge, and competent to instruct one another."

God has given us his goodness! But not, however to benefit ourselves or to boast about. But rather to benefit others and further His kingdom.