Recap: Last week I talked about how God is good but we are not. Most people think they are good but that's because they're using the wrong standard of measurement. Rick Warren writes, "Goodness can only be measured by God. God is the standard of goodness. If we compare ourselves to others we’re using the wrong measurement. If we determine goodness by what other people call good, we’re using the wrong standard. It’s like the little boy who came to his mother and said, “Mommy, I’m eight feet tall.” She said, “You are?” “Yes,” he insisted, “I am eight feet tall.” His mother asked what he measured himself with, and he pulled out a six inch ruler."
If we want to be declared good we need to trust in Jesus for salvation. Devotion by David Maxson, John 3:3, "Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." Maybe you've heard that the average American not only believes in heaven, but also believes that he's going. What is that based on? One possibility is that most of us have a positive view of ourselves.
A 2006 Barna Group survey revealed that 97% of Americans say that they are "a good citizen," 94% describe themselves as "friendly", and 90% see themselves as "generous." Is this why so many feel secure in their eternal destiny? I'm sure there are other factors, but in my experience I've found that most people think that if you're a "good person" that you're going to heaven.
If you were to ask Nicodemus if he was "a good citizen," "friendly," and "generous," he would probably say he was. More than that, he was a religious ruler who was likely esteemed and admired by most people. But Jesus said he needed to be born again. He wasn't good enough. No doubt, this was a difficult pill for this religious man to swallow. Grace is a difficult thing for us to accept as well.
We're not saved because we're good, or because we come from a good family; we're saved because Jesus Christ has died for our sins. We're saved and have a hope of heaven because we were born again of water and the Spirit." So, if we have come to the conclusion that this is true, that God is good and I am not and that I need to be born again, if we have tasted and seen that the Lord is good and get saved, then there are some things we need to start doing.
1) We need to discern what is good.
Job 34:3-4, "For the ear tests words as the tongue tastes food. Let us discern for ourselves what is right; let us learn together what is good." We have tasted that the Lord is good but that doesn't mean that what is good will be clear all the time. Sometimes things seem to be good but they're not.
'If it sounds too good to be true it probably is'. Sometimes people highlight or exaggerate the positive qualities of something without mentioning the not so positive things; thus giving you an incomplete picture. This can be seen in many different factions-purchases, ideas, schemes, investments, job offers, etc.
This can also happen when it comes to people and relationships. People misrepresent themselves and when you become vested in them they show their true colors and what seemed to be good didn't turn out that way in the end.
So what can help us to be able to discern what is good? One way is to not make quick decisions or go by appearances. Some people say you can always trust your instincts. That thinking can be a dangerous. We shouldn't ignore our instincts but we can make a mistake if we draw conclusions based on them without seeing if they are right or not.
We're told to follow our hearts. Another potential danger zone. We shouldn't go merely with our emotions. We can feel strongly about something today but feel differently tomorrow; after we've made a decision that to try and back away from could incur some serious fall out.
We should move forward in unbiased logic and reason; investigate, ask questions, do research; then if you're in doubt-get out. Satan is crafty; he knows how to make the bad look good. Jesus said in John 7:24, "Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment.” Jesus is warning against deciding a matter or a person based on how they look.
Paul told the Corinthians in 2nd Cor. 10:7 that they were only looking on the surface of things. You need to get beneath the surface to make a correct judgment and discern what is truly good. And in order to do that, we will need what only the Lord can provide. In Isaiah 11, we see some prophecy pertaining to the coming Messiah-Jesus.
Isa 11:2-4, "The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD—and he will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth."
Jesus did not judge or decide merely by what he heard or saw-he judged and decided through the lens of righteousness and by using the Holy Spirit-the spirit of wisdom and understanding; the spirit of counsel and power, the spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord. So, when we are discerning what is good we will rely on the Holy Spirit to reveal goodness to us.
This can work in the opposite direction too. As we can think something is altogether good when it isn't, we can think something is altogether bad when it isn't. When we're in a bad situation we need to 4:8 our thoughts. In, How to 4:8 your thoughts, Jennifer Rothschild writes, "A few years ago, I sat—did I say “sat?”—I meant, I was stuck in front of a little girl and her daddy on an airplane. We’d been glued to the tarmac for 45 minutes when we were told for the fourth time that we were delayed again.
Ugh. I blew out a frustrated breath and fumed about everything that was wrong with this airline. I just knew that the past 45 minutes would turn into another 45 minutes and then into four hours and five hours and then … deep breath … I’d miss my connection, be stuck in Chicago and, well, that’s enough. You get the idea. I was not a happy woman.
My stream of outrage was interrupted by the little girl’s sweet voice. “Daddy, I spy something blue.” I knew her dad was as irritated as I was, but he tried to be cheerful, so he started guessing, “Is it that bug on your t-shirt?” And so the game went through all the colors of the rainbow and then she said, “Daddy, I spy something good.” Her dad chuckled. I figured he laughed for the same reason I did. It was pretty hard to spy anything good in our current, caged predicament.
“Is it a bag of M&Ms?” the dad asked. “No,” she said. “Is it your new shoes or your sweet smile?” They went on and on like this. Who knew there were so many possibilities for good things to be crammed into this stuffy, stationary piece of machinery that should have been soaring through the clouds? I couldn’t help myself.
I smiled. Listening to them pick out everything that was even remotely good helped this grumpy girl think twice about my attitude. I realized I couldn’t spy anything good because I wasn’t looking for it. So I decided I would try to spy something good too. But, to see something good in bad situations you’ve gotta look beyond your circumstance. You’ve gotta look through the 4:8 filter!
Phil. 4:8 says, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” We can all spy something “good” or “lovely” or “true” by applying some 4:8 to whatever we face. We may not be able to remove the bad, but when we apply some 4:8, we will renew our minds.
Everything changes when we decide to dwell on only what meets the 4:8 standard. When I went rummaging for the good on that airplane, I found it! I was safe and healthy and blessed to be traveling. That was just some of the good stuff that made its way through the 4:8 filter! As I spied the good, I saw the good! It really made a difference.
You may be stuck in a situation that stinks and you can’t change it. But, if you sift that situation through the 4:8 filter, you’ll begin to see what is good and lovely and true. So, the next time you feel the grumpiness rise in you, or the next time you start to fume and get frustrated, ask God to help you apply some 4:8 to your thoughts.
When you can’t change a situation, it’s time to change your focus. It’s time to look for the good. Ask yourself, is what I am dwelling on right now “good, lovely, of a good report?” If not, renew that thought by focusing on what is true and finding the good in a situation or person. Strain your spiritual eyes to see what is lovely, even in an ugly moment.
Ask God to install a 4:8 alarm in your heart that will sound off every time you entertain a thought that doesn’t match the verse. This practice will help focus your thoughts on truth. If you struggle with this—like I do—you may want to jot down the list of adjectives in the verse so you can refer to them all day. Make them a screen saver, put them on a sticky-note or write them on your hand! The eventual result is that your focus will begin to change—you’ll see the good and lovely in everything!"
In order to discern what is good, we need to be looking for what is good. When it comes to distinguishing what is good and what isn't, we also need to become familiar with the word of God and grow in our faith. Heb. 5:14, "But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil."
In the beginning of our Christian walk it can be hard to tell the difference between the two. Certain things will be obvious but others won't. There are some sins and behaviors that will not be so obvious-sins that are more ingrained in us like maybe our choice of words or telling little white lies; things that are more normal or accepted in society.
And as a new Christian, learning the fundamentals of the faith we may not be keen on being able to tell when someone is misusing scripture so we might think someone's interpretation is good but in reality it isn't; it's misleading and dangerous. We need to be committed to prayer; asking God to open our eyes to be able to discern between good and evil-lest we fall prey and potentially learn some hard lessons.
1st Thess. 5:21-22, "Test everything. Hold onto the good. Avoid every kind of evil." Avoid every kind of evil. Some evil we have no problem avoiding. Some evil, though, is more tempting or deceptive and we have a harder time either resisting it or recognizing it. There is no acceptable evil-no matter how normal it might be to others and no matter how tame it might appear.
There is good and there is very good. So it is with evil-there is evil and there is very evil; but that doesn't make certain kinds of evil more acceptable than others. All of it is to be avoided just like all good is to be pursued and held onto. We need to love good and hate evil.
Rom. 12:9, "Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good." This is the attitude pure love produces. The Greek for cling here means to stick to, be united with, be joined to. We need to be associated with goodness. We need to become partners with goodness. You've heard it said of certain people-they're stuck together like glue.
Although that can be an indicator of an unhealthy relationship-it is never the case when we are stuck like glue to what is good. And if we cling to God and his word we'll be able to test everything and discern what is good. The sincerity of our love will be seen in our willingness to hate evil and cling to the good.
2) We need to do what we know is good.
First we need to discern what is good. But once we have done that we need to do what we know is good. Eph. 2:10 says that we were created in Christ Jesus to do good works. That's our focus now that we're in Christ. It's good that we can discern what is good but it doesn't stop there. It's not enough that we would know the good works we should do, we need to do them.
Familiarizing ourselves with the bible helps us to be prepared for good works. 2 Tim. 3:16-17, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."
As we continue to commit ourselves to the knowledge and understanding of the scriptures we'll be preparing ourselves to be equipped to do the good works God has prepared for us. But we need to be willing to be used for God's good purposes. In the parable of the talents the ones who used what was given to them were called good and faithful servants but the one who buried his talent was called wicked and lazy. The good and faithful servants were willing and eager to please their master.
Titus 2:14 says that we are to be eager to do what is good. When we are grateful for all that God has done for us we will be eager to do good works. And as long as we are eager to do good we will stay committed to doing what is good.
One thing that will help us to be motivated to do good is to realize that it's a sin if we don't. James 4:17, "Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins." We not only need to resist the temptation to do wrong, we also need to resist the temptation to not do good. We see that's it not enough that we know the good we ought to do but we need to then do what we know is good.
If you were a doctor and you had the knowledge and skill to save someone's life but chose not to, would that be good? Would you be recognized for your knowledge and skill or would you be criticized for not using it? Once we know the good we ought to do we will be required to act on it. Since we are given the ability to do good to not use the gifts that God gives us is not good.
But when we do good, it should not be for our own recognition, but for God's glory. Matt. 5:16, "Let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your father in heaven." All the good we do needs to point to God. He is the source of all our abilities to recognize and then do what is good. He should get all the credit.
But that doesn't mean it's wrong to be recognized for what we do. In fact, doing what we know is good will give us a good name and reputation. Prov. 22:1, "A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold." We need to be seen as good for the right reasons. We can tell people our goodness stems from God's goodness imputed to us.
But it's good that people see the godliness we have. It's not meant to be kept to ourselves. Jesus said we need to let our light shine. That's one of the reasons it's so important to avoid evil and cling to what is good-so that we would have a good name. We carry the name of Christ so we need to make sure our name is respected among others.
Like Peter said in 1st Pet. 2:12, "Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us." Let people think what they want, but as long as we maintain our integrity and good name, it gives those who provide false accusations the ability to be found out in their falsehood and humbled before God. And in so doing they can be brought to acknowledging and glorifying God because they are convinced by our goodness that God is good.
Sometimes people taste and see that the Lord is good because they see our good deeds and want what we have. People are attracted to goodness. Scott Hoezee writes, "Goodness attracts. We have film critics who praise good movies. We have restaurant critics to highlight the places where you'll receive a good meal.
We like good things. Perhaps that is why in the long history of this planet there have been very few people who have scratched their heads over the presence of goodness. 'Why is there so much evil in the world?' is a routinely asked question, but when was the last time you heard someone crying out, 'Why is there so much goodness in the world?' Theologians and philosophers have wrestled with the 'problem of evil,' but the 'problem of goodness' does not exist."
We need to discern what is good and then we need to be about the business of doing good works for the advancement of the kingdom of God.
