“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” Gal.5:22-23.
Goodness is the character of God reflected in the lives of believers. “As Jesus started
on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he
asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “Why do you call me good?” Jesus
answered. “No one is good—except God alone.” Mark 10:17-18. NIV.
At new birth the Holy Spirit comes with this fruit of the Spirit into the new believer. Like
other fruit of the spirit this fruit is planted in the believer in seed form. It is the believer’s
responsibility to care for this seed by letting the Word of God and the Holy Spirit shape
his/her character so that this fruit becomes fully developed in him/her.
Goodness can be described as a deliberate choice of right over wrong, a consistent
resistance of evil and a commitment to moral integrity. It is choosing integrity even
when it is hard to do so.
Goodness is closely related to kindness, but they are not the same. Kindness can
manifest as an outward expression of love and compassion such as treating others
with gentleness, mercy and grace. “And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving
one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.” Eph.4:32.
On the other hand, Goodness is an inner moral integrity such as choosing what is right
even when it is hard. “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good
things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.” Matt.12:35
Kindness is how you treat others. Goodness is why you treat them that way. Kindness is
the action. Goodness is the motive. One flows from the other. A person full of goodness
will naturally act with kindness, because their heart is aligned with God’s will.
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK
Many people assume the posture of worship but not the heart of worship. Hence,
they fail to receive all the blessings of worship. Heart (spirit) speaks to heart
(spirit). God is a Spirit and communicates to us through our spirit and not our
mind.