By: Dr. Steven K. Parker
· What is goodness? How does / should goodness work together with kindness?
· List some examples of goodness you’ve experienced. Why do these examples stick out in your mind?
Hear:
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. (Galatians 5:16-26)
Pause:
· If the fruit of the Spirit that Paul lists are a normal part of life when we live in God’s kingdom, what does that say about goodness?
· If we grow in the Spirit, we will grow in goodness, but how do we grow in God’s Spirit in a way that produces goodness?
Reflection:
I know I’m not perfect, but at least I don’t ____. What are some of the ways we’ve heard people fill in that blank? What’s going on when we say something like that? We’re using someone else’s sin to make ourselves feel better about our own shortcomings. We’re measuring our goodness over against someone else’s badness. What might the basic flaw in that kind of comparison be? If we define goodness by the badness of the people around us we will come to feel better about ourselves, while falling short of the ideal Jesus set for us.
The Pharisees who were constantly at odds with Jesus defined goodness in terms of the foods they didn’t eat, the places they wouldn’t go, the people with whom they wouldn’t associate, the words they wouldn’t say, and the impure things they wouldn’t touch. They were the ultimate, “at least I don’t ____” group of people. Jesus wasn’t impressed, calling them “blind guides,” “white washed tombs,” “and hypocrites” (Matt. 23). They looked morally good on the outside, but on the inside Jesus said they were spiritually blind, decrepit, and dead. Jesus said, “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:20). Ouch! Whatever it is that true goodness is, from Jesus perspective it was something other than what these religious leaders displayed.
Another “at least I don’t ____” group were the Judaizers who were corrupting the churches of Galatia, to whom Paul was writing this letter we’ve been studying. They tried to convince the early Christians that true believers followed Jesus and the OT law. Truly faithful people had to have faith plus works. Paul was not impressed by that kind of goodness and said that a works-righteousness was no righteousness at all, but that it produced the works of the flesh: sexual sins, worship sins, relational sins, sins of abuse and excess “and things like these” (Gal. 5:18-21). Paul warns us sternly “that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Gal. 5:21). Whatever it is that true goodness looks like, Paul says that we can’t find it by the force of our own will or by retreating to legalism.
What do you think pharisaical or judaizing goodness looks like today? In contrast, biblical goodness is lived in response to the goodness God has shown us in Christ. Such goodness is shown through taking accountability for our own thoughts and actions and practicing generous good will toward others. Goodness is a consistency of life that shows we are committed to be hearers and doers of God’s word.
The spiritual fruit of kindness and goodness are closely related to each other. Kindness supplies the mind-set we need to live a Godly life and goodness provides the moral quality we need to live that kind of life. When kindness and goodness are working together in our lives, we flee from all that is evil and seize every opportunity that God puts in our path to do good unto others. The way spiritual fruit work in tandem in a kingdom life makes me think of a little girl’s prayer, “Lord, help bad people to be good and help good people to be nice.” How much better would our community be; how much better would our church be if God would help bad people to be good and good people to be nice! Our world desperately needs a heavy dose of kindness that is grounded in goodness and goodness that is tempered by kindness!
As we pause to examine our own lives in the light of God’s word are there any sinful behaviors that we’ve grown comfortable with, that we think we can handle, but that we know are unfit for a child of God? Are there any sinful attitudes that have found a cozy place in our heart, but are destructive influences in our walk with God and have a negative influence on the people around us. When Jesus looks at our heart does He see a heart that beats with God’s goodness or when He looks at our life does He see a blind guide, a whitewashed tomb, a hypocrite? Remember that Paul isn’t giving us a list of self-help ideas that will lead to a better life. These virtues are the byproduct of a life lived under the controlling influence of the Spirit of God. If we don’t find enough goodness when we examine our life, then there is a problem in our relationship with God. We need to live humbly confessing our sin, immersing ourselves in God’s Spirit, devoting ourselves to prayer, worshiping together with God’s people in any way that we can, so that we might grow in God’s Spirit and allow Him to grow the goodness that is the norm of life in His kingdom to become more evident in our story.
If you’d like to hear more about goodness, you can access a recent sermon in our Living Into A Kingdom Normal series by clicking here.
Wonder:
· Why do you think the simple virtue of goodness is so significant?
· What are some practical types of goodness we can show through this pandemic and hurricane recovery effort?
Bless:
· Affirm what everyone has shared.
· Pray that God might help us to grow in His Spirit that our lives might more and more be characterized by goodness.
Pray together:
“Lord, we are grateful for the goodness you have shown us. Help us to draw close to you and grow in your goodness. In the midst of the frustrating uncertainty of this pandemic and the unexpected stresses of hurricane recovery, help us to express goodness toward everyone you put in our path. Lord, where we are bad make us good and as we grow in your goodness, let us never forget to be kind. In the face of all the hate, frustration, and anger that we experience on a daily basis, help us to sow goodness the Jesus way. Come, Lord Jesus, and bring us your goodness that is tempered with kindness, because our world needs it desperately. Amen.”
We hope that you will join us online Sunday at 9:30 AM in Spanish and at 11:00 AM in English. We also have various Zoom Bible Studies and Sunday School classes that you can plug into; call the church office at 956-968-9585 or message us on Facebook for more information about those. May God produce His goodness in us!