Galatians 5:22 — Goodness
“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!”
What is the difference between “being good” and “goodness”? Christians so often focus on that first one… We try so hard to “be good” that we pretty much miss the whole point about what it means to live a free life in the Spirit.
Being good requires you to follow all the rules. But, um, Jesus (who never sinned, by the way) broke a lot of rules. Not God’s rules. Man’s rules. You know, all that religious stuff that all the important leaders said was required in order to really follow God’s rules? Jesus was terrible at “being good,” whether he was picking grain on the Sabbath (or worse — healing someone!), flipping tables at the Temple, or talking to unsavory women. (There was that one time a prostitute literally could not stop kissing Jesus’ feet and he commended her while totally slamming all the guys for not welcoming him nearly as warmly… yeah, that happened in Luke 7).
But Jesus was inherently good. God’s very nature embodies goodness. So what is “goodness” if it is not the same as “being good”? Perhaps the most commonly known verse about goodness is found in Psalm 23:6:
“Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever.”
My first observation in trying to understand goodness is that it is connected here with the words “unfailing love.” Interestingly, Isaiah 63:7 also mentions goodness along with unfailing love. This pairing gives us a clue about goodness — it is deeply intertwined with God’s love that will never let us down.
One more key word to notice from the verse in Psalms: pursue. God’s goodness pursues us. And for what reason? To give us eternal free room and board. God is the best dad ever, and he is so good he chases us around inviting us to eat with him and live with him for free forever. Pretty sweet deal!
Here’s your freedom for today: God is for you. He is pursuing you. He is inviting you over and giving you an eternal home. His goodness is so good that he isn’t asking you to get yourself together first. You’re a total mess? No problem, he loves messes. It’s totally his favorite. You are totally his favorite. As you are. Right now. Yes, he’s that good.