PRAISE & PRAYER PROMPT ••• This is Day Six of our nine-day study of the Fruits of the Spirit.
Galatians 5:22-23 says, “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!”
Today, we’re looking at GOODNESS.
Psalm 14:3b NLT says, “No one does good, not a single one!”
Well, that’s a disheartening way to start off an essay about being good, right?
But hang tight… there’s hope.
This is the passage Paul was referring to when he wrote Romans 3 which includes one of the Bible’s most popular verses, “No one is righteous— not even one.” (Romans 3:10b).
From Adam and Eve’s first bite of forbidden fruit, sin has been passed down from generation to generation.
Goodness is listed as a fruit of the Spirit because any goodness we do is obtained when we allow the Holy Spirit to work in us and through us.
Before we dive into that… yes, unbelievers can do good things, and be morally upright.
But they will fail to measure up to God’s standards of goodness every single time.
We all fail to measure up – believer or not.
But the goodness of the Spirit recognizes that our goodness isn’t about us, nor is it about morality. It’s about God’s goodness.
In 2 Corinthians 12, Paul wrote about the “thorn in his flesh,” and in verse 9, he shared God’s words, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9).
We all share the same sin struggle.
It may not be the exact brand of sin, but it’s sin nonetheless.
And since we all struggle with a sinful thorn in our flesh, we all need God to help us fight it.
From that, His great goodness can work in us and produce good works.
And we do good, not to earn God’s favor (because there is nothing we can say or do that will be good enough), but we do it out of grateful hearts for all He’s done for us!
My favorite verses in Scripture are Ephesians 2:8-9.
They are the foundation for my blog’s name and purpose.
“God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.”
The fruit of goodness is never of our own doing.
It’s the direct result of surrender.
Today, as you pray, praise God for being good.
Thank Him that while you are a sinner, He still loved you enough to send Jesus to die for you (Romans 5:8).
Ask the Holy Spirit to use you to do good things in appreciation for His love, and so that through your weak, sinful nature, God’s goodness can shine.
2 Responses
“The fruit of goodness is never of our own doing. It’s the direct result of surrender…” Amen to that! In fact, I think all the Fruit of the Spirit requires our surrender… but what a fantastic exchange it is! I get so much more than what I give up! Love this post, dear Denise! <3 <3
❤️