Goodness: Another Aspect of The Fruit of The Spirit
Nine aspects of the fruit of the Holy Spirit should be evident in the life of a Spirit-filled believer.
Do you see these operating in your life?
Love
Joy
Peace
Patience - forbearance
Kindness
Goodness
Faithfulness
Gentleness
Self-control
Today we are going to look at the fruit of goodness.
Goodness is not the same as kindness or gentleness. The fruit of goodness refers to the act of doing good deeds for the benefit of others.
However, it is not our goodness for we have not got this goodness in us. It is the goodness of God working through us.
Jesus said:
"Why do you call me good?"
"No one is good except God alone.”
—Mark 10:18
The fruit of the Spirit is made up of the nine characteristics mentioned above.
It is because of this Spirit working in us that we can do genuine good deeds.
According to the Bible, all our righteous acts are like filthy rags to God.
We must first receive His righteousness and then we will know what is the right and good thing to do.
“All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.”
—Isaiah 64:6
There are many ways a believer can do good. For example, they can edify another person, listen to or support someone, or help in church, or their community.
It could be something harder like setting a boundary with someone who is aggressive or acting out addictively. Tough love is an act of goodness because you are doing what’s best for the person by not enabling them.
We are led to do good deeds as we live and walk with God daily.
Not everyone has to see our good deeds.
God prefers when we do things in secret as it helps us to grow in humility.
Listen to the Spirit as He guides you in your prayer life. We only have to open our eyes and ears and be ready to act when prompted by the Spirit.
Thank you for reading!
Image by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
Excellent!
Most excellent. Merci.