Fruit of the Spirit: Goodness

By:  Dale Weckbacher

When I wrote this posting, the church shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas had not occurred.  Please join me in praying for the families, and community victimized by this shooting.   

Galatians 5:22-23

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

(ESV)

The mass murder at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas and now the terrorist attack in New York serve to remind us that goodness, like the other fruits of the Spirit is a rare commodity the world needs.  As people born into sin (Romans 3:23) a mind set on the flesh is hostile to God (Romans 8:7) and it is only through transformation by the Holy Spirit and the Word of God that removes this fleshly hostility towards God (Romans 12:2).  The fruit of true goodness only comes from God and is the anthesis of the evil prevalent in the world.  While goodness is a quality most people strive to reach, goodness alone is not enough to make us right with God for our salvation comes because of the finished work of Jesus on the cross (Ephesians 2:8). 

If you have not accepted this free gift of goodness offered to us by God when He gave us His Only Son (John 3:16) I encourage you do so now by praying with me,

Dear Lord Jesus, I know I have sinned (Romans 3:23) and know that the penalty for my sin is death (Romans 6:23).  I ask you to forgive me of my sin and cleanse me as you promise in your Word (1 John 1:9).  I believe you died, was buried, and resurrected from the dead and now declare you Lord of my life.

You have now experienced God’s goodness and grace, but the fruit of the Spirit of goodness mentioned in Galatians 5:22 is us showing goodness to others.  James 2:14 reminds us that faith without works is dead.  While some interpret this as a contradiction to Ephesians 2:8, James is speaking of those of us who have experienced the goodness of God’s gift of salvation sharing that goodness with others while Paul is speaking of our works being insufficient to provide forgiveness from sins. 

Mother Teresa left a legacy of good works that led to her canonization as s saint.  Her inspiring goodness was,

1)      Purposeful – While Mother Teresa initially came to India to teach, once seeing the poverty of the people of Calcutta she realized God had another purpose for her life.  (1)  While we like to plan ahead in our lives believing we know our purpose, we must be open to hearing from God for when we do we will discover our Godly purpose and discover where we can best bear the fruit of goodness.

2)      Sacrificial – Showing goodness is not something we do for profit.  Mother Teresa and a group of nuns practiced total devotion to their mission, surviving on little income and food.  (1)  However, God was faithful honoring their sacrificial devotion by taking care of their needs.  While God may not call most of us to the level of sacrifice Mother Teresa practiced, we must insure we perform acts of goodness with the right motive, to serve God and not our own profit.

3)      Persistent in the face of criticism – Mother Teresa persisted in the face of criticism due to her strong and passionate devotion to the calling from God she received.  (1)

4)      Respectful – Even though Mother Teresa had many opportunities to proselytize and convert people of other faiths to Christ, she instead remained respectful and allowed her goodness done out of her personal devotion to her Lord and Savior do the talking.  (1)  We may never know this side of heaven how many may have received Christ through her acts of goodness, and I believe we will discover many did.  

5)      Determined – During the last years of Mother Teresa’s life she suffered many issues with her personal health, but she never let these setbacks prevent her from carrying on her works of goodness.  (1)  I believe James would have pointed to Mother Teresa’s determination to perform good works as an example of faith that is not dead but very alive. 

An evil world full of mass shootings and acts of terrorism needs a diet consisting of more of the fruit of goodness.  While it was a forbidden fruit that brought evil into the world, let us follow the example of Mother Teresa and ask God to reveal places we can perform works of goodness showing others the goodness of God’s grace that lives inside us. 

1. Feeling Success. Mother Teresa’s 5 Inspiring Deeds. www.feelingsuccess.com. [Online] Feeling Success, February 4, 2015. [Cited: November 4, 2017.] https://www.feelingsuccess.com/mother-teresas-5-inspiring-deeds/.