{"id":59920,"date":"2024-11-18T06:30:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-18T11:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nehemiahecommunity.com\/members\/?p=59920"},"modified":"2024-11-18T03:16:47","modified_gmt":"2024-11-18T08:16:47","slug":"goodness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nehemiahecommunity.com\/members\/devotionals\/goodness\/","title":{"rendered":"Goodness","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WEEKLY DEVOTIONAL BY PATRICE TSAGUE<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is goodness?
Is there a difference between goodness and kindness?
How do you walk in goodness?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, <\/em>goodness<\/em><\/strong>, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.<\/em> \u2013 Galatians 5:22-23 (NKJV)<\/a><\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Goodness<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Goodness is one of the fruits of the Spirit, and it appears in Galatians 5:22-23<\/strong> right after kindness. <\/strong>At first glance, it may seem that there is not that much that separates goodness and kindness. But when you dig a little deeper, you will find that they are significantly different. Kindness is an outward expression of how someone feels on the inside, whereas goodness is expressed based on who someone is on the inside.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Goodness is derived from the word \u201cgood,\u201d which means to be right, approved, or beneficial. Someone cannot be kind unless they are good, and a good person will be habitually kind. You could say that kindness is generated out of a person\u2019s inherent goodness. Goodness is an expression of righteousness, and it is exemplified by moral excellence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Biblical Entrepreneurs<\/a>, we are called to be good, first and foremost, before anything else. When God made humankind and everything on the earth, He took an intentional pause and inspected His creation and saw that it was good \u2013 and not just good; He saw that \u201cindeed it was very good.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u200b\u200b Then God saw everything that He had made, and <\/em>indeed it was very good<\/em><\/strong>.
So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
<\/em>\u2013 Genesis 1:31<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When God acknowledged that man was alone and needed a companion like himself, He said it was \u201cnot good\u201d<\/em> that man should be alone (Genesis 2:18)<\/strong>. The union between man and woman was something else that God thought was good. In the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30)<\/strong>, when the servants who had been entrusted with the two and the five talents multiplied them, the master called them \u201cgood and faithful\u201d<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is clear that we are called to be good, but what does it really mean?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the Bible instructs us to be good, it is not talking about being good in and of ourselves \u2013 it is talking about the perfect expression of God\u2019s nature manifested both in us and also through us. It is a good that is rooted in the righteousness of Jesus Christ.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Goodness is allowing God to communicate and express His nature through us. That is why when Jesus was called \u201cgood\u201d (referring to His humanity, not His divinity), His reply was that no one is good except God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So He said to him, \u201cWhy do you call Me good? <\/em><\/strong>
No one is good but One, that is, God.<\/em><\/strong> <\/em>
But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.\u201d
\u2013 <\/em>Matthew 19:17 (NKJV)<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

How can we walk in goodness?<\/p>\n\n\n\n