GOODNESS (FOR GOODNESS SAKE!)
The Fruit of The Spirit (Part 7)
Galatians 5:22-23
• Galatians 5:16-25 (NIV)
[22] But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, [23] gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
INTRODUCTION:
Perhaps you have heard an exasperated parent tell his/her children, “Oh be good for goodness sake!” Unfortunately mom and dad’s idea of goodness may be different from the child’s idea of being good!
Let’s take a quiz on being good or bad. As I call out the following names you tell me if they were good or bad:
Adolf Hitler Mother Teresa
Albert Einstein Osama Bin Laden
Jimmy Carter Saddam Husein
Billy Graham Al Capone President Bush Pastor George Pastor Sue Susie Ebie
Goodness isn’t as clear cut as we may think! What is good for one person may not be good for another person at all, as the old saying goes, “One man’s junk is another man’s treasure.”
What is goodness?
Paul said, “The fruit of the Spirit is . . . goodness.” What does it mean for you and I to have goodness, to be good?
• Ephesians 5:9 (NIV)
For the fruit of the light consists in all goodness.
• The fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness (KJV).
The fruit is made up of goodness. Over the last several weeks I’ve said, “It’s FRUIT, not fruits.” Each of the nine expressions of the fruit of the Spirit are connected to each other; you can’t have one without the others developing as well. Love is the blossom. Through love the fruit develops and matures; without love there is no fruit of the Spirit.
We’ve said goodness is love extending; goodness is love reaching out to others. Here’s another way to think of it. Why does love extend or reach to others? GOODNESS IS OUR MOTIVE.
Look again at what Paul said. “The fruit of light [the fruit of the Spirit] consists or is in all goodness.” Goodness is the motive. When the fruit of the Sprit is fully developed in our lives, then goodness is at the heart of everything you and I do. Unless we let the fruit spoil and go bad people will have no reason to say we have not been good.
Is goodness the motive of everything you do? I wish I could say it was my motive all the time; unfortunately I still need to let the fruit of the Spirit develop in me to full and complete maturity. While goodness may not always be my motive, I desire for goodness to be the reason behind how I live my life; I want goodness drive to drive me to motivate me.
Goodness is not made up of the outward things we do; rather goodness is the inward reality of who we are in Christ Jesus. Goodness is our motive. Jesus teaches us what goodness really is.
• Mark 10:17-18 (NIV)
[17] 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?" [18] "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good--except God alone.
What Jesus shows this man, and what we learn about ourselves is that all too often we overestimate who we are, and underestimate who God is. We are guilty of making ourselves too much like God, and God to be too much like us.
Jesus tells this man if he will simply keep the commandments then he would have eternal life. This man responds like many of us would, “I’ve kept all the commandments; I’ve done everything God requires of me.” Jesus simply replies, “One thing you lack;” in other words YOU HAVE MISSED IT!
If you think you can be good enough to satisfy God’s requirements, if you think you can do enough good things to make God happy, then you have missed the most important thing. No one can do anything apart from Jesus (note John 15:5).
The fruit of the SPIRIT is goodness; goodness is not the fruit of the SAINTS. You and I cannot produce goodness; we cannot develop the fruit apart from being connected through Jesus.
Goodness is our motive; goodness is the inward reality of who we are in Christ Jesus, and GOODNES MAKES US GODLY!
God wants us to be just like Jesus. Goodness makes us to be like God. Now be careful not to make the mistake of overstating yourself and understating who God is. You and I can never become God-like or equal to God. He is transcendent and far above anything we can ever become. However, Christ in us can cause the likeness and image of God to be evident and real within us.
What does goodness look like?
Goodness is love extending; it’s our motive. Goodness is not the external things we do but the internal reality of who we are in Christ Jesus. Goodness makes us Godly. BUT WHAT DOES GOODNESS LOOK LIKE IN THE REAL WORLD? Can we recognize goodness in our lives and the people around us? Jesus tells us YES YOU CAN!
• Matthew 12:33-35 (MsgB)
[33] "If you grow a healthy tree, you’ll pick healthy fruit. If you grow a diseased tree, you’ll pick worm-eaten fruit. The fruit tells you about the tree. [34] "You have minds like a snake pit! How do you suppose what you say is worth anything when you are so foul-minded? It’s your heart, not the dictionary, that gives meaning to your words. [35] A good person produces good deeds and words season after season. An evil person is a blight on the orchard.
Everything we do and say is an overflow of our hearts. What is on the inside determines what comes out through what we say and do.
Jesus said it is as easy to tell the condition of a person’s heart, whether it is good or bad, as it is to tell the condition of the tree from its fruit.
• We find the same thing in James 3:11-12 (GW)
[11] Do clean and polluted water flow out of the same spring? [12] My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree produce olives? Can a grapevine produce figs? In the same way, a pool of salt water can’t produce fresh water.
Our problem is we all too often put up a “good front.” We act a certain way and say certain things around some people, but we let it all out around other people! From time to time I still run across people who will say, “Watch your step ‘cuz he’s a minister” as he/she introduces me to someone.
Are you like that? Are you careful to control your tongue and reign in your anger around church people, but are reckless with your behavior around family or at work?
The real you will show itself. Just like you know a tree by its fruit, or can’t get fresh water out of the ocean, what is in your heart will show itself.
Do you have a good reputation with your family? Does goodness overflow from your life at work? Is goodness the trademark of your life? People around you can tell if your goodness is genuine or if it is just an act put on for show?
A common statement made at a funeral goes something like this: “He was such a good man,” of “She was a good lady.” What does that mean when we say someone was good? Often it doesn’t mean anything! The human evaluation or judgment of their life determines he or she was good because the life lived did not exhibit terribly bad things. What does saying “He was a good man” mean to God? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.
• Romans 3:10-12 (NLT)
As the Scriptures say, "No one is good—not even one. [11] No one has real understanding; no one is seeking God. [12] All have turned away from God; all have gone wrong. No one does good, not even one."
God’s evaluation of the human race is straight forward not pulling any punches. God tells us like it really is. No one is good. Everyone is like a diseased tree, a polluted well. We can do nothing good.
Then is there any hope for us to be good? Yes, we have hope through Jesus Christ. Remember what we said goodness is; goodness is our motive. Goodness is not the external things we do but the internal reality of who we are in Christ Jesus. Goodness makes us Godly; it makes us look like Jesus!
How does the Spirit produce goodness in our lives?
1. The Spirit makes us SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF GOD.
• 2 Thessalonians 2:13 (NIV)
. . . God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.
We can never do enough good things to merit God’s favor; salvation is not earned. Salvation is a work of the Holy Spirit! The Spirit makes us aware of our need for God. The Spirit convinces us that there is nothing good within us; we are sinners in need of God’s mercy. Through God’s Spirit we are born into His eternal family; we are children of God. Sons and daughters of God born not by natural means, but by the Holy Spirit (see: John 1:12-13).
As sons and daughters of God we have been given a NEW HEART – A NEW NATURE. Because we are sons and daughters of God, we are given “the family resemblance;” we start to look like Jesus.
• Colossians 3:10 (NLT)
You have clothed yourselves with a brand-new nature that is continually being renewed as you learn more and more about Christ, who created this new nature within you.
Notice this is a continual process. God is not making “minute kids.” Goodness does not develop in lives like minute rice, just boil water and stir! Developing the nature of Christ and His goodness is a lifelong process as we are continually renewed and learn more about Him.
Is there anyone who knows everything there is to know about Jesus and living the Christian life? None of us do! That’s why we need each other. That’s why we need to join together for worship; why we need to be a part of regular times of Bible study. That’s how God is working His image, His goodness into our lives.
Goodness is made possible in our lives as we become sons and daughters of God.
2. The Spirit develops a SERVANT’S HEART.
Jesus said He “did not come to be served, but to serve” (Matthew 20:28). How did Jesus serve others?
• Acts 10:38 (NIV)
God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around DOING GOOD and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.
One way Jesus made Himself a servant was by doing good deeds for others. Likewise, God wants us to learn to do good through developing a servant’s heart. We find the goodness of a servant’s heart shown to us in the lives of two people in the book of Acts.
• TABITHA – Acts 9:36 (NIV)
In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which, when translated, is Dorcas), who was ALWAYS DOING GOOD and helping the poor.
• BARNABAS – Acts 11:22-24 (NLT)
When the church at Jerusalem heard what had happened, they sent Barnabas to Antioch. [23] When he arrived and saw this proof of God’s favor, he was filled with joy, and he encouraged the believers to stay true to the Lord. [24] Barnabas was A GOOD MAN, full of the Holy Spirit and strong in faith. And large numbers of people were brought to the Lord.
Servants do good! Servants do not think about pleasing themselves, but always look for ways to serve and help others. God wants you to be a “do gooder” to be a servant!
Goodness is made possible in our lives as we become sons and daughters of God; it continues to grow as we develop a servant’s heart.
3. The Spirit produces a SIN-SENSITIVE HEART.
• Acts 23:1 (NIV)
Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, "My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day."
• Paul said in Acts 24:16 (NIV)
I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man.
What is the condition of your conscience? Is your conscience in good condition? Is it clear before God and man? God wants your goodness to overflow so your conscience is clear.
How can we know if goodness is developing in our lives and our conscience is clear? Look what Paul told the Romans.
• Romans 9:1 (NIV)
I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit.
The condition of his conscience was confirmed by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will not lie to you; God won’t just tell you what you want to hear. The Holy Spirit will let us know if our conscience is clear.
Jesus said one of the reasons the Holy Spirit is at work within the world is to convince or convict the world of sin (See: John 16:8). The Holy Spirit living in us will make our hearts sensitive to sin.
At one time in my life I tried really hard to be a “good sinner!” I was a “schizophrenic Christian”—in other words I was playing church to make mom and dad happy. I had multiple masks I would put on as needed. I had one problem. Mom and dad kept me involved at church and God’s word continued to chip away at my sin hardened conscience. The Holy Spirit was making me sensitive to sin and I just couldn’t sin good anymore. The pleasure of sin was gone and I just felt miserable even as I tried to find happiness through my sin.
Goodness is made possible in our lives as we become sons and daughters of God; it continues to grow as we develop a servant’s heart and by having a sin-sensitive heart.
4. The Spirit gives us a SMILING HEART.
Remember Barnabas? He was a good man with a servant’s heart, but he also had a smiling heart. The name Barnabas means “Son of Encouragement,” and Barnabas lived up to his name as he brought encouragement to the church.
God wants to give us a smiling heart, a positive attitude and out look on life. People with a smiling heart are the good folks you want to be around because they are always ready to pick you up out of the mud.
When Paul met with the leaders of the church in Ephesus, he reminded them of the ways he had been an encouragement to them. Paul’s smiling heart was not kept to himself, but he shared his smile with others. (That’s the nature of a smile—YOU CAN’T KEEP IT TO YOURSELF!)
• Acts 20:20 (MsgB)
I didn’t skimp or trim in any way. Every truth and encouragement that could have made a difference to you, you got.
In his letter to the Ephesians Paul encouraged them to likewise have a new way of thinking—let your thinking transform your heart so you can smile!
• Ephesians 4:17 (NIV)
So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.
Similarly Peter tells us that what he wrote in his letters was for the purpose of transforming the way we think. We are not to have negative thinking that weighs us down—no more stinking thinking. We are to have positive thoughts.
• 2 Peter 3:1 (NIV)
I have written . . . as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking.
Goodness is made possible in our lives as we become sons and daughters of God; it continues to grow as we develop a servant’s heart, a sin-sensitive heart and a heart that smiles.
5. The Spirit gives us a SATURATED HEART.
Have you ever bit into an orange or grapefruit and the juice squirts out all over you? It’s an explosion of flavor! God doesn’t want to just fill a little bit of our heart; he wants to saturate our hearts with his love and presence. Therefore as people come into contact with our lives the Spirit of God overflows and spills out into their lives.
• 1 Thessalonians 3:12 (MsgB)
And may the Master pour on the love so it fills your lives and splashes over on everyone around you.
