#6fruit Of Spirit Goodness Series

#6 STUDY OF THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT: GOOD-GOODNESS

By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr.

Kyfingers@aol.com

Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

23. Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

TEXT:

Gen.2:9 But of the tree of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in

the day that thou shalt eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

HEBREWS 12:14 FOLLOWING PEACE WITH ALL MEN, AND HOLINESS,WITHOUT WHICH NO MAN SHALL SEE THE LORD ---

Matthew 12: 34 --- for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.

35. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart brings forth good things; and an evil man out of the evil treasures brings forth evil things.

36. For I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak,they will give account ...

WE HAVE BEEN STUDYING THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT

We have broken the nine into three groups.

1. Inward: love, joy, peace

2. Outward: longsuffering-patience,

gentleness-kindness, goodness.

3. Godward: faith-faithfulness, meekness,

temperance-self control.

Today’s study of goodness IS OUR 6TH STUDY, THE LAST IN THE OUTWARD GROUP. With the Godward group, three more to follow.

-- good words? --good actions? --good attitudes?

--good in patience? --good character?

Good works! It is a needed fruit of living Christ

like.

Practical Goodness is applying God’s principles

and kindness in our daily relationship to our

enemies as well as friends.

From the very beginning of human existence, the choice of GOOD and BAD have been set before our hearts.

Gen. But of the tree of good and evil, thou shalt

not eat of it; for in the day that thou shalt

eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Adam and Eve had a choice. We have choices, GOOD

is not automatic, man has to set his mind and

heart after the Word of God, to DO the Will of God.

Eve made a choice to side step what was GOOD. The

testing process before us this day is will we

decide GOOD or bad?

We even laugh and call some B.A. --- BAD ATTITUDES.

GOOD AND BAD START IN THE MIND, it starts as a

thought, then the thought establishes a pattern of

thinking, we a habit is reinforced until

a dominion or stronghold has rooted and grounded

it’s way into our heart, the BATTLE IS BETWEEN

GOOD AND BAD.

WE SEE THE CHOICE OF GOOD VERSES EVIL BECOME A SAD TRAIL THAT REINFORCES AND STRENGTHENS ITSELF UNTIL ONLY GOD CAN TURN THE LIFE AROUND.

The trail starts as ANGER

and this leads to CONTROL based on --

performance and a spirit of perfectionism, --

and when this PERFECTION is not reached --

this leads to a spirit of PAIN... and

disappointments; ---

and this leads to BITTERNESS ---

and this leads to REJECTION ---

and this leads to ALIENATION AND DIVISION ---

and this leads to HATRED, HOLY HATRED? ---

and this leads to REBELLION ---

and this leads to A SPIRIT OF INDEPENDENCE ---

I don’t need you! I don’t need this family!

I don’t need the church!

PLEASE CONSIDER THIS TRAIL AND HOW IT LEADS AWAY FROM THE GARDEN OF EDEN AND HOW IT LEADS AWAY FROM GOD AND GOODNESS!

WHAT IS GOODNESS? Can you define goodness?

--of a favorable tendency --upright in character

-- fit --free from injury -- sound

-- can be relied on -- profitable

--honorable -- deserving respect -- virtuous

--right Morally pure --loyal -- beneficial

A GOOD EXAMPLE OF GOOD --- THE GOOD SAMARITAN!

Is our goal to be pleasing to God first, to be

good to others second,

and keep our hearts and motives pure?

HEBREWS 12:14 FOLLOWING PEACE WITH ALL MEN, AND

HOLINESS,WITHOUT WHICH NO MAN SHALL SEE THE LORD ---

Goodness CAN NOT BE SEPARATED FROM HOLINESS...

holiness of life will always expresses itself in

always of doing what

is in the best interest of others.

Moral Goodness is not optional, to keep the

Commandments and God’s Word must be a high

priority. We must conform to all God’s laws and

principles.

COURAGE IS NICE, BUT WE NEED GOOD COURAGE.

Josh 1:19 Be strong and of good courage; be not

afraid, neither be dismayed: for the Lord is with

you wherever you go.

Hitler had men full of courage.

Beer and drugs can give some young people courage

to stand in front of a train or perform sexual

favors, but this is not GOOD COURAGE!

The tongue has a lot to do with goodness.

The MOUTH SPEAKS FROM THE ABUNDANCE OF THE HEART!

A bad man will have a bad tongue, a good man will exercise a GOOD TONGUE!

Psa. 34:8 Taste of the Lord and see that He is good.

Our mouths must hunger for the goodness of God.