And the fruit of the Spirit is… goodness…
Matthew 19:17 (NIV) “Why do you ask Me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want
to enter life, obey the commandments.”
One
quality of goodness is moral excellence – doing the right thing. There is no goodness in us; therefore the fruit of
goodness is surely a work of the Spirit of God in our lives. We can be good
only because God is good.
There’s
an interesting poem by Steve Turner full of purposed irony. It is called Creed. One stanza says: “Jesus was a good man just like Buddha/ Mohammed
and ourselves./ He was a good moral teacher although we think/ his good morals
were bad.”
It
has often been said by religious and irreligious alike that Jesus was a good
man. Many say He was a good moral teacher. But this poem uncovers the sham: we can’t
say Jesus was a good moral teacher when we are throwing Him and His morals out
of our culture like the plague. The world wishes to pick and choose good and
bad like we pick and choose our clothing in the morning, saying that right and
wrong are matters of preference. But right and wrong and good and bad are moral
laws that exist high above us; they
are laws upon which our preferences have no bearing. What is good and right and what is wrong
and bad come directly out of God’s
character. HE is good and HE is right; all that opposes Him is wrong and bad.
He is not a tyrant craftily imposing ridiculous morals here and there as a
maze-maker stations obstacles. He is.
He is goodness and righteousness and
holiness and His ways are wonderful.
As Jesus told the rich young man who wished to find eternal life, only God is truly good and obedience to
His character of goodness is what He desires most.
PRAYER AND
MEDITATION
1. How has God been good to you? Think of some times, write
them down and write out a prayer of worship.
2. Are you proud to stand up for the morals Jesus taught?
Ask God to search your life and your moral behaviour. Is there anything
questionable that is tarnishing His name? Confess areas of rebellion.
3. Spend some time in prayer asking God to help you in
morally troublesome areas. Ask Him to help you to love obedience.
