Galatians 5:22, 23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Goodness is the conscious effort to take action and do good. In Galatians 6:9-10, Paul says, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” When the Spirit comes to live in our hearts, our lives are changed. As we grow in the love of God, we become more like Him, sharing His desires. Our God is a good God and He desires good things for all people. Goodness is the natural product of the Holy Spirit living in our heart, transforming us to be more like Christ.
The development of goodness in the life of a believer is essential to the furthering of our faith. How will this sinful world know we are Christ’s disciples if His love is not motivating us to “do good to all people”? The world we live in is so tainted with lies and hypocrisy! Some days I look around at the people around me, “How did they get so confused?” Lately, I’ve had the opportunity to talk to several people about what they believe. All of my conversations have left me with the impression that they are fed up with baseless religion. They don’t want to hear the preaching from the Bible or instruction on the life of Christ, they want to see what the Bible teaches and feel the life of Christ. They are so desperate for true faith that, for lack of evidence among Christians, they have turned to other religions or turned to atheism. They’ve turned to whatever can bring them the comfort they haven’t received from the One we profess is the God of the Universe.
So my question is, is this God’s fault? By all means, no! The fault is ours. The burden is on us to show them how the love of God has changed us. It is the love of God that motivates us to go against our sinful nature of self-obsession and take time to care for those in need and to tend to the weary. James 1:27 says, “This is pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father, to visit orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” All men will know the depth of our faith by the good we do.
How much good will you do today? My challenge is to do as much good as you can, as often as you can, to as many people as you can. There is no limit to the power of doing good and there will always be people in your life that are in need of love in the form of a good deed. The world will know the love that is in us by the action we take upon that love. How do you rank in doing good today? Do you spend most of your day focused on your agenda or do you take the time to find someone with a need and fill it? God has loved you and blessed you with many good things. Let the Spirit pour into your heart and flow out through your goodness and kindness to all people.