GOODNESS

Goodness is a fruit of the Holy Spirit from the second cluster. Along with patience and kindness, these fruits especially speak to our relationships with other people.

What it means

The Greek word is agathosunee. It signifies the moral quality which is described by the adjective agathos. Agathos means being good in character or constitution. Being beneficial in its effect.

Agathosunee is used four times in the New Testament. Each time it refers to a quality of character. Either God's goodness of character or ours.

Goodness is being better or best, to be pleasing; to be not bad.

Why its important

Goodness is important because its representative of the overall character that people see in me. I believe that I was born sinful. I am not able to be full of goodness in myself. Goodness is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit filling my life. I can only truly be good with the help of the Holy Spirit.

Goodness shows others that I am filled with the Holy Spirit.

Good is who God is and what He does for us.

“I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.” (Psalm 27:13)
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him,” (Romans 8:28)
“that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion”(Philippians 1:6)
“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father” (James 1:17)
“what God's will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:2)

When I demonstrate goodness, I model Godliness and Christlikeness to others.

Good can overcome evil. (Romans 12:21)
We are created to do good works. (Ephesians 2:10)
We are God's servants to do good for others. (Romans 13:4)
A man of God must be equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 2:17)
We need to be ready to do whatever is good (Titus 3:1)
The Lord rewards us for doing good to others (Ephesians 6:8)

How to do it

Here are a couple of my suggestions for practicing goodness.

1. Pray.

I can't be good on my own. I need God's help. I need the Holy Spirit to fill me. Then I can chose to be good.

2. Ask “Is this a good thing?”

I used to use the pros and cons method when I was trying to make a decision. Fold a piece of paper in half. Write the pros of the decision on one side and the cons on the other. If one side is decidedly bigger than the other, I decide in that direction. I don't use this method for making individual decisions any more. I don't think it is adequate. But I use a variation to help me to do good.

I try to think of scenarios and ask myself, “What would be the good thing to do in this situation?” For instance, perhaps I am propositioned by a woman to have sex with her (so far it has never happened ;-) But Joseph ran into that scenario). Then I list a good response on one side and a bad response on the other. The good response would be like Joseph, get up and run! The bad response would be anything else, try to evangelize her, try to convince her its a bad idea, etc. Basically, anything besides running is a bad idea.

I can develop a list of good choices and bad choices for almost any scenario:
What should I do when asked to go to lunch with someone?
What should I do when I see someone with a flat tire on the side of the road?
What should I do when someone asks for my spare change?
What should I do when I see someone being verbally abused?
Should I vote?
Who should I give money to?

With my list, I have already considered potential actions when I am faced with specific scenarios. Having pre-meditated my actions makes it easier to answer the question “Is this a good thing?” when I am under pressure. There is a greater likelihood I will do the good thing.

For more similar ideas see:

Practical Discipleship ideas on Kindness

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Posted on October 20, 2008