God’s Goodness On Display

God’s goodness is the root of all goodness; and our goodness, if we have any, springs out of His goodness.                          

- William Tyndale

If there is one thing I have learned in life, it is this: the more I try to be good, the more I realize that I am not. Goodness does not come naturally for me. Selfishness, on the other hand…oh, that’s easy! I can accomplish that with no effort at all.

Goodness is hard, so hard in fact, that Jesus Himself, in His humanity, proclaimed it as such.  In the account of the rich young ruler in Mark 10:17-18, the young man approached Jesus, and in an effort to flatter Jesus and make himself look good, asked, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Instead of answering his question, Jesus responded by saying, “Why do you call me good? No one is good – except God alone.”    

In yesterday’s teaching, Pastor Jared reiterated what he has been proclaiming this entire series:

The fruits of the Spirit are not accomplished by our own willpower, or even by our fear of the consequences of not doing them, but only by having a supernatural heart, one that is filled with the Holy Spirit who is at work transforming us right now into becoming the person we, as Christ-followers, will one day be in Heaven.

Neither you, nor I, can be good on our own. But when we allow the Holy Spirit to do the work in our hearts, which is then manifested outwardly through our thoughts, feelings, words, attitudes and actions, God’s goodness springs forth from us.

Every day I must remind myself to stop trying to be good, but instead, allow the Holy Spirit to do the transforming work in me so that God’s goodness, and His love, joy peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, will be on display in such a way the He is glorified, not me.

Pastor Ken

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