The Fruitful Life: Goodness

By Lisa M Clark

“So, how was the movie?“

– Good.

“Did you enjoy your dinner out?”

– It was good.

“How are things with your family?“

– Oh, things are good.

If you’re like me, the responses above usually cause concern. Why wasn’t the movie great? Was the food too bland? Clearly, the person isn’t sharing much about family life. 

But are these fair assumptions? What is it about the word good that isn’t good enough?

When I was studying a foreign language in high school, I was surprised to learn that good actually meant good. Evidently, Americans have a bit of a reputation for describing things with more excitement than necessary. Don’t get me wrong: I still tend to use the words amazing, fantastic, and stunning in my common toolbox of descriptions. But lately, I am appreciating more often the Simquily appreciation for things that are good.

So, what is good? And for our purposes, what is goodness?

After this paragraph, close your eyes for a moment. Try to consider all of creation. The tiniest particle to the most gigantic galaxy. When God created all of it, He called it good. After God created all things, including Eve, He called His work very good.

When studying this term usage in the Bible, I found the following terms and phrases: beautiful, pleasant, delightful, best, according to God’s will and intentions. When all was perfect, it was good.

It’s interesting to note that the terms good and goodness contend with love and loving when it comes to occurrences in the Bible. God is good; God is love. It makes sense that Jesus uses terms such as the Good Shepherd and the Good Samaritan to describe Himself. In other words, good is a good term.

“O give thanks to the LORD; for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever!” Psalm 106:1

The term goodness is used a handful of times in the New Testament. It’s interesting to note that Paul is the one who uses the term most of those times. (We don’t know who wrote the Book of Hebrews for sure.) Half of those times describe the goodness of God, and the other half refer to goodness as shown through His people. It may not be much of a stretch at all to say this: to be good is to be Godlike. Goodness describes things that go according to His will. This should make sense, really. After all, goodness is a fruit of the Spirit. And as we’ve come to learn, fruit is simply a result of being grafted into Christ, the Vine.

“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.” John 15:4

So now, let’s contemplate: As the Holy Spirit works in our lives, how might goodness look?

Goodness Is Free

“I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own accord.” Philemon 14

You’ve heard of good works, no doubt. Sometimes, good works get a bad reputation because too many of us have fallen into the mistake of thinking that our good works earn us heaven. But we do not do good to be saved. We do good because we are saved.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:8–10

God saved us. God planned our good works. We just get to enjoy fulfilling His will, which He has set for us.

Ask yourself this question: “How does the freedom of goodness frame your way of showing good to others?”

Goodness Brings Joy

“The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people.” Titus 3:8

In his letter to a pastor named Titus, Paul is clear once again that good works do not win salvation. But having been saved, we will benefit others with our goodness.

Think of a time that someone has shown you goodness. Maybe she welcomed you into her home with warm hospitality. Maybe he gave of his time to bring a helpful gift. Maybe they just sat you down and listened to you cry. This, my friends, is goodness that wells out of love, out of the heart and will of God. There are no expectations of returned effort, and the result is joy.

Here’s another question: “How has God used you to show goodness lately?” (Note: This might be harder than it looks. Often, when we give freely, we might not even notice it at first glance.)

Goodness Gains Attention

“In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 5:16

It’s sad, but true: goodness can be unusual. “Why did you do that?” is often a response to someone being kind. But be careful, dear friends. If attention comes with your goodness, it is not truly good if you claim the credit as your own. If goodness is characteristic of God’s will being done, then God gets the credit. Put another way, once we take the credit, God’s will is not being done, and our work is not truly good.

Does that make you nervous? Take heart. God knows and loves us. And in His goodness, He forgives us for the tainted and downright failed attempts we’ve made at goodness. Again, our most “good” works are ones we likely don’t even notice. But others do. And when others realize that your goodness springs from your life as a fruit of the Spirit that is living in you, they’ll want to know more. That’s right. Often, our first steps in witnessing to others have nothing to do with what we say, but how we live as children of God.

So enjoy! Take comfort in the grace that pervades all that you do, and enjoy the goodness that you get to share, in ways both big and small.

One more question: “How can you share goodness with others this week?”

“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.” Psalm 23:6