The last five weeks we’ve spent some time on the fruit of the Spirit found in Galatians 5:22-23. So far we have covered love, joy, peace, patience, and kindness.
This week our fruit is goodness. I have to admit that the difference between kindness and goodness can be fuzzy for me. They seem similar don’t they?
So let’s define goodness and hopefully gain some clarity. The Greek word translated is “agathosune” which means uprightness of heart and life or integrity. Tim Keller provides a helpful working definition for goodness when he says it’s “being the same person in every situation, rather than a phony or a hypocrite. This is not the same as being always truthful but not always loving, like getting things off your chest just to make yourself feel or look better.”
As a recovering people-pleaser, “being the same person in every situation” sounds like an awfully daunting and impossible task. At times in my life I’ve somewhat resembled a chameleon which changes the color of its skin to blend in with its changing surroundings.
I also can find it difficult to deliver the truth to those around me in a loving and kind way. It’s so easy to walk around trying to justify my lack of goodness by keeping a list of people in my head who are “worse” than me. Don’t we get caught sometimes keeping score and seeking opportunities to one up each other? At the same time, I struggle being called out by others in my life without getting defensive and feeling like I’ve been falsely accused. It’s easy to call out others’ sin, but when the tables are turned and I’m “on trial,” I lose it. What about you? How do you typically respond when your sin is exposed and brought into the light?
The good news for my chameleon behavior and my hypocritical nature is that my God is neither of these things. Hebrews 13:8 says He is “the same yesterday and today and forever.” There’s no wavering or fluctuation in His character. James 1:17 states that “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” Again, no variation or change. He is perfectly good 100% of the time and always will be. The church that I grew up in in Pittsburgh would start each service by saying “God is good, all the time. And all the time, God is good. Especially today!”
James 1:17 also reminds us that any good gift we receive originates from God, and any fruit of goodness and integrity produced is the Holy Spirit’s doing, not our own. We can’t take any credit for it. I like how Charles Spurgeon puts it when he says “The egg is white though the hen is black as coal…Out of evil comes good, through the great goodness of God.” He can take our evil, take our lack of good, take our hypocrisy and chameleon behavior and through His goodness and because of His goodness produce the white egg.
If you’ve ever made a fruit salad for a picnic or get together, you know it takes a significant amount of time to cut up all the different types of fruit. When you first start making your salad, it’s more like a tiny, cup-sized portion consisting of only one or two fruits. Then, gradually as more fruit is added to your serving bowl you see the portion size increase and the variety of fruit mixed together well. Similar to the preparation for a fruit salad, the Holy Spirit over time produces the fruit of the Spirit in our hearts and in our lives. At times, we may only see a couple pieces of fruit being produced, but those tiny pieces are a part of the Spirit’s beautiful transforming power and work in us.
“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 3:18
In Him,
Stacey