God Is Good

Growing up in church, I remember a familiar saying at youth camps and Sunday services. The pastor would say, “God is good.” The church would respond, “All the time.” The pastor would then say, “All the time,” and then the church would say, “God is good.”

It’s funny how bumper sticker theology sticks with you. I find myself repeating that a lot. It’s an anchor statement to return to again and again. I think about David in the Psalms repeating that idea over and over.

In Psalm 136:1,

“Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.”

In Galatians, Paul tells us something interesting about our new nature in Christ. The Spirit of God has placed love, joy, peace, patience, kindness and goodness inside of us. To be good, is to understand that God has treated you better than you deserve (because He is good) and then we go into the world and we do the same for others. That divine capacity is in you.

Heaven is a place where goodness reigns in us and in the new world God establishes. In Heaven, we will all treat one another better than someone deserves, not as someone deserves.

I would imagine today, you woke up trying to be a good husband, good father, good grandmother, good school teacher and so on. You want to be able to describe yourself that way, and you want others to describe you that way too.

You are good. Remember that in your work and in your relationships today. Paul is essentially giving us a picture of a God who looks at us and sees our potential, and says over you today, you are good, all the time. All the time, you are good. Thank goodness!

Go live a life worthy of the calling you have received!

Pastor Jared

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