The Fruit of the Holy Spirit - Chapter 9
Goodness
Goodness is another one of those words which needs some further explanation to make clear exactly what is meant.
The word is used of so many things and the meaning really depends on the object of which we are speaking. A good dog is not the same as a good horse, and a good tree is not the same as a good farm.
A thing is good if it fulfils the purpose for which it is made. So goodness here means being the kind of people God wants us to be. That means loving God, being like Him, and showing His love to others.
Goodness includes all that was said about kindness, but goes still further. Kindness refers to our actions, what we do for or to others. Goodness goes deeper. It is the inner quality of our lives. It is the power within, which makes us kind.
God’s character is described in Exodus chapter 34 verse 6, like this, ‘‘The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in love and faithfulness’’. That is real goodness, and it shows us what God wants us to be.
There are two sides to goodness, love and truth. True goodness is walking in both. A writer of some years ago, writing about them, says ‘‘These has God joined together and they should never be put asunder. Certainly we should walk in truth, but not in truth only, for that would be hard; and certainly we should walk in love, but not in love only, for that would be soft; but we should walk in both’’.
That is true goodness, and that is the fruit of the Spirit of which Paul is writing.
We said just now that goodness is fulfilling the purpose for which we are made. A good fruit is one without badness, that is ripe, and that tastes how it ought to taste. A good Christian is one whose heart is clean and pure, whose motives are right, whose personality is a whole one.
This inner goodness works out in good acts. The good man will never do a mean, selfish act. His words, too, are good. They are not hard and bitter, and he watches carefully lest he be thoughtless in his speaking.
This goodness shows also in his attitudes. He takes care always to think the best of others, and to put the best construction on what they do.
You remember the advice Paul gives us in his letter to the Philippians chapter 4 verse 8 - ‘‘Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things’’.
We have mentioned these words before and will probably do so again, because they are so important. What we think, we usually say or do. What we are in our thoughts, we become in our lives.
Another way of explaining goodness is to say that it is a Christ-centred life.
So often even the good things we do really spring from a measure of selfishness. Even those we call good people so often have wrong motives. I once read about a man who came up to his friend and asked how his son was. But without giving his friend time to answer, he said ‘‘Let me tell you about MY son’’. He went on for a good half-an-hour talking about HIS son, and there was no time left to hear about his friend’s son. You see, his real concern was not for the others man’s son at all.
If we are truly going to bear this fruit of the Spirit, we must liver a Christ-centred life. We must be able to testify as Paul did, ‘‘I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me’’. (Galatians 2 v. 20)
George Muller who lived in Bristol, in England, during the last century, was a true man of God. He was called by God to look after children who had lost their parents and had no one to care for them. He trusted the Lord to send him all that he needed to feed and clothe these needy children, and God did it in a wonderful way.
He was asked one day what the secret was of his godly life and his trust in God. His reply was something like this, ‘‘There came a day when I died tterly. I died to George Muller, his opinions, tastes and will; died to the world and its approval or blame; died to the approval or blame even of my brothers and friends. Since then I have sought only to show myself approved to God’’.
This is true goodness, the true fruit of the Spirit, not to seek our own desires and ambitions, but to allow Christ to live in us fully - a Christ-centred life.
This kindness also makes life so much more simple. When we want things for ourselves, and want life to go our own way, there is often so much scheming and planning. But when Christ is the centre of our lives, all we want is His will. He is doing the planning and not we, and we can leave it all in His hands.
May this fruit of goodness, then, grow fully in our lives as Christ lives in us and makes us like Him.