When we think of goodness, we need to keep things in perspective. Only God is truly good. Jesus said in Luke 18:19 “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.” But, we also know that because God is good and He creates good in us through faith in Jesus. 2 Corinthians 9:8 “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.” 3 John 1:11 puts it a little differently, “Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.” God is good and wants us to live out goodness in our lives. What goodness is God seeing in your life because of Jesus? Are you seeking to reflect the love of Jesus towards others? We have God’s promise that He created us for good. Ephesians 2:10 is one of my favorite promises. “ For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” One year in Summer Bible camp we had Ephesians 2:10 as our memory verse. Since I was teaching the verse I was excited to see the version we used called us God’s Masterpieces. (New Living) We are not just some creation by God but a masterpiece that He can and does use to do His good works in the world. We have purpose in God’s kingdom and are connected to Him though our faith in Jesus.
Pastor also highlighted God’s kindness. Kindness is another attribute that God desires to see lived out in us as we seek to live for Him. Scripture is filled with examples to show us how blesses and highlights kindness towards others. David showed kindness to his enemy Saul’s crippled grandson, Mephibosheth. Jonathan, Mephibosheth’s father and King Saul’s son, was David’s friend. David as king, sought to show kindness instead of hatred and vengeance towards Jonathan’s heir. As the previous king’s heir he could have had him killed but David chose kindness because of his friendship with Jonathan. David had loved Jonathan and thus Mephibosheth too.
Boaz showed kindness towards Ruth and Naomi by letting them glean from his fields. He was a distant kinsman who claimed them in kindness, becoming their kinsman redeemer. Jesus showed kindness to the woman at the well, offering her redemption and living water, instead of rejection and hatred which was commonly exhibited by Jews towards Samaritans. Paul showed kindness towards Lydia and her friends and told them about Jesus as they sat by the riverside in Philippi. When you look at these examples, some are small and some huge. Kindness has no minimum or maximum. All acts of kindness can be used by God to show the love of Jesus towards a hurting world.
Scripture tell us in Proverbs 21:21, “Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness will find life, righteousness and honor.” Zechariah 7:9 says, “This says the LORD of hosts, ‘Render true judgements, show kindness and mercy to one another.’” God loves and desires us to act with kindness and goodness towards others!
Pastor’s last point was that goodness and kindness work against evil in our world. Sometimes the world seems so overwhelmingly evil and nothing seems to be balancing the scales towards justice. Jesus reminded us in John 15:18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.” But Jesus did not leave it there. He reassured us in John 16:32b-33 “Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
Both God the Father and God the Son are with us and His Holy Spirit indwells us! We too can be overcomers! We can persist in doing good and kind acts right where God has places us. As we are reminded about the fruits of the Spirit- “ There is no law against these things! So hang in there and keep on doing good and kind things!!
Linda
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Linda is a member of Crossroads church and regularly blogs about her faith.
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