For Goodness Sake (3)
Wednesday June 26, 2013

Part of the sickness we can observe in our culture is the need to be good, or to seem innocent where guilt should be admitted. As long as no one catches us, we tell ourselves we really haven’t done anything bad. As long as we can find some problem in our background to explain our pain, we act as though we're not responsible for our lives of addiction and irresponsibility. As long as some lawyer can find a reasonable judge or a technicality that can get us off, we think we don’t have to worry about the cheating, stealing and assaulting that we’ve committed. If we deny we do bad things, we suffer on the inside even if our reputation seems to hold together for a while on the outside. God clearly tells us that one of the great gifts of true goodness is the cleansing we feel after we’ve admitted our faults and our sins. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:8-9 NIV)

Keeping the rules and checking the “balance sheet” is another favorite method of tricking ourselves into thinking we are good people. We follow the rules but push and shove anyone who gets in our way while we do it. We use all the times we’ve done the right thing to excuse ourselves from taking responsibility for the rules we break. We do good things for others and tell ourselves we are “pretty good people” even though we know we have bad attitudes and hidden resentments.

The Bible makes a clear distinction between doing good things and goodness as a character quality. Jesus taught His follower, “Why do you call me good? No one is good—except God alone." (Luke 18:19 NIV)

In spite of the challenges and ethical confusion, as followers of Jesus, we are taught to do good. Also we are told that one of the signs that God lives in us is that our lives demonstrate “goodness.” God has created us for good work, flowing from a good heart. The challenging question for us is: Are we just “looking good” or are we really good?
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