But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control; against such things there is no law.
What does it mean to be good? Well, I looked up synonyms for goodness, and this is what I found: Moral, generous, kind, friendly, honest, and gracious. Goodness isn't just one idea, I guess it's a combination of good characteristics and other fruit of the spirit too.
All throughout my life, I've been labeled as a good person. In my high school yearbook, I was even voted the "most likely to become a saint". But just like everyone else, I'm not perfect. I've made mistakes in my life, and I don't always do the right thing.
In the theme of goodness, I've been reading Grace for the Good Girl by Emily P. Freeman. (Book review to come!) One chapter focuses on Mary and Martha. Martha was trying to be a good host and became easily worried and stressed when her sister listened to Jesus speak rather than help her. Another chapter focuses on the parable of the lost son. The younger son took his share of his father's land, left home, and lost all he had. When he returned home, his father was overjoyed and began planning a celebration. The older son who had not done anything to displease his father, became angry and jealous of his brother.
When I was reading these stories again, I came to the realization that I could relate to Martha and the older son. When other people are rewarded for their good behavior, I think what about me? I've been doing the right thing this whole time, where's my reward? But goodness should come with humility, and just because you're not praised for doing the right thing, doesn't mean you should stop.
But why is it important to be good? Jesus says in Luke 6:33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. As a Christian, I think it's so important to do good to everyone around you, because by doing good, you'll be showing God's goodness through your actions.
Good thoughts! (unintentional pun there :S) It often surprises me how much trying to be good (at something or just in general) can backfire and leave me frustrated or burnt out (like Martha/the oldest son) but when I focus on trusting God and keeping my priorities straight often the "good" that I'm chasing works out on its own :)
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading this! I catch myself acting like the older son in the story sometimes too! The first time I heard the story of the lost son, I never thought about the other brother, but when it was brought to my attention, I was dumbfounded! I was like: "That's me!"
ReplyDeleteThanks for writing this Annie!