THE Fruit of the Spirit (6) Goodness
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December 13, 2009 |
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 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." (Galatians 5:22-23)
When the children of God receive the Holy Spirit, their minds and deeds become good. Through those good deeds they become the light of the world, and the worldly people come to give glory to God (Matthew 5:15-16). Likewise, the fruits of the Holy Spirit are not borne only in the heart. The good things of the heart will certainly reveal themselves in deeds. It is the case with the goodness. If you bear the fruit of goodness in your heart completely, you will give out the fragrance of Christ wherever you go, you can give glory to God. Then, what is 'goodness'?
1. Goodness Is the Heart to Set Standard with the Truth and Act According to It.
"Goodness" is the quality of being gentle, considerate, kindhearted, and virtuous. In the spiritual sense, however, it is the heart that seeks goodness in the Holy Spirit, which is the goodness in the Truth. If we bear this fruit of goodness completely, we will have the Lord's heart that is pure and spotless. Sometimes, even the unbelievers follow goodness in their lives to some extent. The standard with which they discern between good and evil is their conscience. To understand this goodness as a fruit of the Spirit, we first have to understand this conscience. Conscience is the standard to discern between good and evil, which is based on the foundation of one's nature. One's nature depends on the kind of life energy one is born with and the kind of environment where he is raised. And each one has a unique conscience depending on the time and place, people's common sense, knowledge, and values. Those who think they follow their conscience are merely following what they think is good. However, they are not absolutely good.
We who are believers have the same one standard with which we distinguish between good and evil. We have the Word of God as the standard, which is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Spiritual goodness is to have this truth as our standard and follow it. It is the heart to follow the desires of the Holy Spirit and seek goodness. We can say we bear the fruit of goodness only when that desire to follow goodness is shown as action.
2. Goodness Explained in the Bible
God's nature is goodness, and that goodness is embedded throughout the Bible. But a verse from which we can sense the aroma of goodness very well is from Philippians 2:1-4 which reads "Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others." Those who seek goodness in the Lord will support even the works that they don't really agree with. They are humble and they do not have any sense of vanity to be acknowledged or revealed. They not only faithfully perform their duties but also care for other people's works.
In Luke chapter 10, a man was robbed while traveling, and he was half dead. A priest was passing by and saw that he was dying, but that priest just passed by him. A Levite also saw him, but he also just passed by him as well. Later a Samaritan had pity on him and covered his wounds. He took him to an inn and asked the inn keeper to take care of him. He even promised the inn keeper that he would pay the cost on his way back. Spiritual goodness is being unable to bear it if we do not choose the way of goodness, feeling as if somebody was s pulling our ankle, and so we do choose the good things in all things.
We can learn about the goodness of Jesus in Matthew 12:19-20. Verse 19 says, "He will not quarrel, nor cry out; nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets." Usually, when we see those people who are considered to be good by others, we see that they don't have any troubles or problems with anybody. They don't speak of other people's faults or shortcomings, and they don't try to flaunt themselves or to raise themselves up among others. Even though they suffer unreasonably, they do not complain.
Verse 20 says, "A battered reed He will not break off, and a smoldering wick He will not put out, until He leads justice to victory." When we grow a tree or plants, if they have bruised leaves or branches, we will usually cut them off. Also, when a wick is smoldering, the light is not bright, and it gives out fumes and smoke. So, people just extinguish it. But those who have the spiritual goodness will not 'break a battered reed (those who are filled with sins and evil of this world) or put out a smoldering wick' (those whose hearts are so stained with evil that the light of their soul is about to die out). They look at them with faith until the end and open opportunities for them to receive salvation. This is spiritual goodness.
3. The Differences between Spiritual Goodness and Other Spiritual Characteristics
Namely, in the parable of the Good Samaritan, his acts can be described as charitable and merciful. But the distinctive aspects of spiritual goodness are the desire to follow such goodness. The focus is not on mercy of having pity on others and helping them itself. The focus is on the goodness with which the Samaritan couldn't just pass by when he was supposed to have mercy.
Let me give you another example. When you do the voluntary works for the church, and if you have the fruit of goodness, you will be faithful in not only one thing but also in all God's house. If you neglect any of your duties, there might be somebody who suffers because of it, and God's kingdom might not be accomplished as it should be. So, if you have goodness in you, you will not feel comfortable about these things. You cannot just neglect them, so you will try to be faithful in all God's house. I believe you can apply this principle to all other characters of spirit. I hope you will bear the fruit of spiritual goodness quickly and give out the aroma of Christ to the world.
The above message is a summary of the sermon preached during Sunday evening service on November 29, 2009. If you want to read this sermon in more detail, visit our website (www. manmin. org) and click on "sermon."
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