Monday, June 24, 2013 -- For Goodness Sake (1)

God created us in His image and God is good.  However, we also have the potential for the opposite because we have choice for good or evil.  At some point in life, most of us do something against our code of ethics and realize that we are not automatically good.  Try as we might, we cannot keep all the rules.  We may be able to fool the people around us, but sooner or later, if we are honest human beings, we can no longer fool ourselves.  The Bible makes it very plain:  As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one; (Romans 3:10 NIV)  And yet, God calls us to be good, and promises us that when His Spirit lives in us, we will find goodness filling our lives and our interactions with God and others:  But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!  (Galatians 5:22-23 NIV).  What is goodness and how can our lives be enriched by this fruit of God's Spirit?

The Bible describes God's goodness for us. One wonderful list is found in Psalm 103.  May I never forget the good things God does for me.  He forgives all my sins, heals all my diseases, redeems me from death, crowns me with love and tender mercies, fills my life with good things, gives justice to all who are treated unfairly, does not constantly accuse us, nor remain angry forever, does not punish us for all our sins, does not deal harshly with us as we deserve, has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.  The Lord is: compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry, filled with unfailing love. The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him. (Taken from: Psalm 103:2-6,8-10, 12-14 NLT)

If we want to be good, we need to experience God's goodness.  It would be good to take a moment today and reflect on what God is offering that is good.  We can receive what we need today whether it is forgiveness, healing, justice, tenderness, compassion or mercy. We need to allow God to live in us and then we can begin to act in new ways with people around us.  As the Christmas song tells us, “Let's be good for goodness sake.”







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