As we continue to dig into the Fruit of the Spirit, I will be mainly recapping what Pastor Howard has presented in his sermon series on the Fruit of the Spirit. Let's look at the passage in Galatians again.
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering (or patience), kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law."(Galatians 5:22-23, NKJV, parenthesis and emphasis mine)
The word goodness in this verse means moral excellence or being filled with integrity. Someone who follows God's laws and always does the right thing even when it is difficult is a good person. It is not telling "little white lies" or bending the rules to fit to our own desires, but doing what God tells us in His Word and reflecting the goodness of God in our lives.
Now here is the problem. Goodness means always doing good. I don't know about you, but I'm not perfect. Not by a long shot. In fact, Romans 7:18 says " For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out." Paul says that there is no good in the flesh. Well, how in the world are we supposed produce the fruit of goodness?
The Bible talks a lot about the goodness of God, but I'm just going to mention one verse.
Psalm 31:19
"Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for
those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you, in the
sight of the children of mankind!" (ESV)
If you read the context of this verse you find that the psalmist is talking about God. God has goodness in abundance. If we as Christians are supposed to be reflecting the glory of God, then I think that means we are supposed to reflect His character. One of which is goodness. But since there is no good in the flesh, we must depend upon the work of the Holy Spirit in us to produce goodness. 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 says "Therefore we also pray always for you that our God would...fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and...that
the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you..." God is the only one who can produce the Fruit of the Spirit in our lives and we must constantly seek His help to be fruitful Christians.
