P.O. Box 53055    
Los Angeles, CA 90053   

How Good is Good?

Ever wonder what other people think of you? If you could listen in as a friend describes you to someone else, what would you like to hear? Would you want your friend to describe the way you look or say something about your great personality? Maybe you’d like your friends to discuss your intelligence or your sense of humor, or maybe your hobbies or achievements. How would you feel if all they said about you is that you’re a “good” person? Sound a little flat?

Yet that’s what Jesus was like. Acts 10:38 tells us that Jesus went around doing good. Everything He touched He left better than it was before. Sick people discovered health, lonely people felt love, guilty people found forgiveness.

Jesus spread goodness everywhere, offering friendship to anyone who would accept it. He was the ultimate example of what goodness is. And He wants us to be good like He was. Hebrews 13:16 reminds us, “But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased” (NKJV).

But it’s not enough just to do good. Remember, it’s what we are that counts. We must be good through and through. Goodness must begin inside us, in the core of what we are. Jesus said, “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things” (Matthew 12:35 NKJV). We will do good because we are good.

At least, this is how goodness is supposed to operate. But unfortunately it doesn’t always. Sometimes our goodness is only skin deep. If you’ve ever bit into a beautiful, shiny apple and discovered a wormy center, you’ll know what I mean. What we look like on the outside doesn’t square with what we are inside. This is called hypocracy.

Often we may do good because we’re afraid of the consequences of doing bad. Other times we might manufacture an insincere brand of goodness because we want to impress someone. We put on a show, trying hard to do the good that doesn’t come to us naturally. Hypocracy.

If that’s our idea of goodness, is it really good? It may produce good results, but can it honestly be called good? We don’t want to be called bad, so we think up excuses for ourselves. Maybe we’re being too hard on ourselves. We try to be good most of the time. Surely we must get some credit for trying.

But the truth is our lives are so inconsistent that, although we may do some good, we’re not as good as we want others to think we are. Or for that matter, we’re not even as good as we think we are.

In spite of our earnest attempts to do right, the Bible still says, “There is none who does good; not one. … For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:12, 23 NKJV).

Ouch! That’s not what we wanted to hear. It looks like we’re in a bind. We want to be good but we aren’t good because we’ve all sinned. What’s the way out for us?

One day a government official said to Jesus, “Good Master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus’ response was surprising. He didn’t answer right away. Instead, He asked the man a question: “Why do you call me good? No one is good but one, that is God.”(Luke 18:18, 19 NKJV). This may sound like a strange response, almost unkind. But Jesus was making a point. He wanted the man to see that eternal life is not earned by our goodness, because it will never be good enough.

If the man had been wise, he would have answered, “Jesus, I call You good because I recognize that you are God. And yes, I realize that there is no one good except God alone. Now, Jesus, please make me good like You are!” That’s the response Jesus wants to hear from us, too.

Then, let’s tell Jesus right now that we want to be good. Not hypocrite good but deep down, through and through good. How does that happen? Here’s the answer. Since goodness is a word used to describe only God, then the more a person has of God in him, the more goodness he possesses. Our life is like an empty cup. The more we invite God into our cup, the more He fills it with His goodness.

Let’s review, then, what goodness is and what goodness isn’t, and see if a picture begins to come into focus. First, goodness is not something we are, since only God is good. And because we aren’t good, goodness is not something we do. In fact, that’s the secret. Goodness is not about us, it’s about God. If we want to not only do good but to be good, we must ask God for His goodness. He must fill our cup.

True goodness is a gift. It’s something we’re given, like all the other Fruit of the Spirit. Goodness comes from having the Holy Spirit in our life.

When we ask for the Holy Spirit to come into our heart and make us like Jesus, He will give us goodness deep down in the core of our character. Even before we may appear good to others, God will plant the gift of goodness like a seed deep into our hearts.

Don’t be discouraged if it isn’t obvious right away. Have you ever planted a seed and watched to see if it would grow over night? We know better than that. Growing is a process, and sometimes it seems like a long, slow struggle. It may even be painful at times.

When we ask Jesus for His goodness, slowly but surely we’ll shed our bad ways and wrong motives and begin to live out our gift of goodness.

When the fruit of goodness shows up in your life, those closest to you will begin to see the change--your family, your friends, your co-workers. Until finally they begin to think of you as a person who goes around doing good. When that happens, you can smile and thank the One who gave you His goodness.

Your goodness won’t be just showmanship which you do to impress people or to get a promotion. It will be natural goodness, just as natural as it is for the rivers to flow. It was natural for Jesus to do good because He was good, and He was good because God was with Him. And that’s the way it will be with you as this fruit of the Spirit grows in your life. As followers of Jesus, you will do good because you are good, and you become good because of your association with Jesus.

Yes, one of the grandest and most significant compliments you can ever pay a person is to call them good. Goodness is the best of all human qualities in action. It is recognized by thoughtfulness, truthfulness, sympathy, fairness, kindness, unselfishness, helpfulness, generosity, tolerance and forgiveness. It’s food to the hungry, medicine to the sick, lenience to the bungler, forgiveness to the offender. It’s a lift to the fallen, a push to the discouraged, and a song to the hopeless.

It’s bigness to both friends and enemies, because goodness has no room for littleness. It’s a heart, a big heart, to everybody. It’s the golden rule in practice!

John Wesley said it:
Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as you can.

Goodness has eyes that see good in others and appreciates them. Goodness has ears that are open to hear the cry of the needy and the sobs of the broken-hearted. Goodness has a strong back upon which others can cast their burdens. Goodness has hands which are stretched out to those who are struggling and trying to stay afloat. Goodness has feet that leave footprints for others to follow.

George Washington Carver was a man who had this special goodness. Although he was born a slave, Carver fought against tremendous odds to achieve an education. Finally, after years of struggle, he finished his Master’s Degree and was asked to accept a position with Iowa University. It was a sought-after job, and no other black man had ever held such a high position. At last he could relax and enjoy the comforts of his society. People at the university loved him and sat eagerly in his classes.

Then a letter came from Booker T. Washington asking the young scientist to join him in a dream to educate the blacks of the South. Leaving his comfortable position, Carver traveled to the parched cotton lands of the South to live and work among his starving people.

When questioned about his brilliance, Carver always said the good Lord gave him everything. He refused to accept money for any of his discoveries. Instead, he chose to give them free to anyone who asked for them. Three presidents claimed him as a friend. Great industries competed for his service, and Thomas Edison offered him a beautiful new laboratory and a $100,000 a year salary. When Carver turned it down, critics commented, “If you had all this money, you could really help your people.” Carver simply replied, “If I had all that money, I might forget my people.”

This is an example of the goodness God wants to give us, when we ask Him for the Fruit of the Spirit. Remember, Christians do good because Christ is making them good. It’s what we are that counts.