Good Like God

Goodness is usually equated with God, yet many question God’s goodness, thinking it is more a trait of humanity rather than deity and assuming that all people are naturally good. “How could a good God allow___?” Is goodness really a characteristic of God? If people are inherently good, why do we need to work on it? Won’t it come naturally?

Mark 10:18 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.”

Romans 3:10-12, 23 New International Version (NIV)

As it is written:

“There is no one righteous, not even one;
    there is no one who understands;
    there is no one who seeks God.
All have turned away,
    they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
    not even one.”…

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

Unfortunately, humanity has it wrong. God is the only One inherently good. Mankind is born sinful (as we saw in the study on holiness). If only God is good, then we must learn how He is good so that we may imitate His goodness. What goodness we see in humanity is the imprint of God on His creation.

Genesis 1:31 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

First, it is important to note that everything God made was good, very good. He has no evil in Him and therefore cannot make anything bad or evil. It was sin which made us no longer good. The sin of one man changed, not only all mankind, but also the world. However, that is not the end. Goodness is a fruit of the Spirit. We can grow in God’s goodness by yielding ourselves to Him.

The Hebrew word for “good” is towb and literally means pleasant, agreeable, beneficial, upright etc. That is what God’s creation was mean to be. That is what we were meant to be, unfortunately we often are not. The goodness of the Spirit is agathōsýnē which literally means uprightness of heart and life. The way we express the goodness of God is to live a righteous life which flows from a righteous heart.

Jeremiah 32:38-40 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

“They shall be My people, and I will be their God; and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me always, for their own good and for the good of their children after them. I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; and I will put the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Me.”

Philippians 1:11 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

We can only have righteousness by giving our lives to Christ. When we do, He will give us a new heart, a heart capable of goodness which has His laws and commands written on it. Then He will fill us with the fruit of righteousness. That is how we grow in goodness. That is how our actions can be truly good. We need to surrender our lives to Him and allow Him to fill us with His goodness and righteousness. Then we can be truly pleasant, agreeable, beneficial to others, and upright.

Have you been filled with the fruit of righteousness? Do you have His goodness flowing through you?