THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT IS GOODNESS

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The Fruit of the Spirit Is Goodness
“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10, NKJV).


Do Others Know?
Patty Lopez, Arlington, Texas, U.S.A.
Sabbath Introduction
Titus 2:11–13

It’s eight in the morning. I’ve eaten my oatmeal. My shoes are more or less shined, and I’ve got my Bible. I start the car, and we all pile in. It’s Saturday, and we’re on our way to church. Before I got in the car, I noticed our neighbor looking at us with a mixture of curiosity and surprise. I wonder what he thinks of us. Who are we to him? We don’t really cause problems. and just last week, I returned a package to him that he had left in the parking lot of our apartment complex.
On what does “being good” depend? What is its source?

On what does “being good” depend? What is its source?

But the question goes beyond that. Does he realize we’re going to church? Does he know that we’re Christians? Of course he knows, I tell myself. But if he does know that we’re Christians, how is it that he knows? Is it because we carry a Bible when we leave the house on Sabbath morning? Is it because of our actions? Is it because I’m a nice guy or a good person? Who defines what makes a person “good”? Because, in fact, he is a very good neighbor, maybe the best in the neighborhood; but as far as I know, he doesn’t attend church at all.

As I drive away, I wave my hand his way to say hello, and I ask myself, Does he know that I’m truly looking to have a special relationship with God?

It seems obvious that there’s a close relationship between goodness and external behavior. However, we should question whether we have the correct concept. On what does “being good” depend? What is its source? What is the motivation behind being good? Is ours based on worldly concepts? Or is it close to the goodness of Jesus? This is especially important, because the goodness of Jesus always showed His intimate relationship with the Father.

In summarizing, we should ask ourselves whether our “goodness” speaks to our actions, our religion, or our actual relationship with God. “It is not only by preaching the truth, not only by distributing literature, that we are to witness for God. let us remember that a Christlike life is the most powerful argument that can be advanced in favor of Christianity, and that a cheap Christian character works more harm in the world than the character of a worldling.”* as you study this week about goodness, ask yourself what motivates you to cultivate
this fruit of the Spirit. ____________
*Testimonies for the Church, vol. 9, p. 21.




Conquering the Enemy
Paul Kevin Wells, Grand Prairie, Texas, U.S.A.
Sunday Logos
Ps. 51:10, 11; John 14:9; Rom. 3:12−20; 7:7−12; Titus 2:14; Heb. 1:2, 3

Heart Problems (Ps. 51:10, 11)
When David found himself “outed” by the prophet Nathan for his adulterous affair with Bathsheba, he did something that would be quite unusual for any government official caught in similar circumstances today. He admitted his sin. I imagine he did the equivalent of looking into the cameras and confessing the whole sordid affair.

[David] didn’t even check himself into rehab to get over some substance that had clouded his mind.

When David was confronted with his sin, he admitted to what he had done rather than try to excuse it as a mistake or a lapse in judgment. He didn’t even check himself into rehab to get over some substance that had clouded his mind. Therein lies a clear manifestation of the work of the Holy Spirit. When the fruit of God’s redeeming love begins to blossom in us, we are enabled to see clearly what we are, and we are then able to confess without fear. Furthermore, we are able to recognize that our sins are more than offenses committed against others. Ultimately, they are sins against God Himself.

That David recognized this is evidenced by his confession, “against you, you only, have I sinned, / and done this evil in your sight” (Ps. 51:4, NKJV). He didn’t confess that he had sinned against Bathsheba, whom he had seduced and impregnated, or against her husband Uriah, whom he had arranged to have killed in battle. He cried out to God and asked for His forgiveness.

When David requested a new heart, he used the Hebrew word bara, which means “create” (Ps. 51:10). This is the same word used in the Creation narrative of Genesis 1. In a sense then, David is asking God to create something altogether new out of nothing, just as God created the world. He didn’t want God to just take the corruption that was there and dress it up. He wanted a new heart that would follow God.

When confronted with the reality of our sinful hearts, we don’t need to run and hide in shame. We can freely confess our sins without lamenting, “What’s God going to do with me?” We can freely allow the Holy Spirit to transform us, to create a new heart in us that looks a lot like Christ’s heart.

Seeing the Father, Seeing Ourselves (John 14:9)
On one occasion, the disciple Philip asked Jesus to show him and the rest of the disciples the Father. Read Jesus’ response in John 14:9. This point is later emphasized by the writer of Hebrews who described Jesus as the exact representation of God and the Sustainer of all things. See Hebrews 1:1–3.

We need to understand that in order to know Jesus, and thereby know the Father, the Holy Spirit must be working within us. The Spirit plays an indispensible role in revealing to us the way of God, and thereby the character of God (John 16:5–15).

We’re All in Trouble (Rom. 3:12−20; 7:7–12)
If we could just accept the fact that we are all sinners, it would be easier for us to develop a greater spirit of grace toward one another. Most Christians readily acknowledge that they are sinners. The problem is that too often we look with great disgust and contempt upon others because we assume that their sin is worse than our own (Matt. 7:1–6).

We excuse ourselves and imagine that what we are caught up in can’t be nearly as reprehensible as the other person’s situation. The Scriptures, however, categorically deny this fallacy (Rom. 3:12). We naturally respond this way when we face our sins. Adam and Eve were quick to shift blame when God confronted them. all people have been doing the same ever since. But the Spirit is able to break this cycle and give us the fullness of life that Jesus promised.

Consider the fruit of goodness, and think about how much better your life would be if God’s goodness transformed your heart. Don’t fall off the path as some do when they think that you are so bad God can’t do anything with you. When we accept that we are saved by the grace of God, demonstrated by Christ, and worked out in us through the Holy Spirit, we can begin to experience the peace of Christ promised in Matthew 11:29, 30.

REACT
1. In what ways might you still be hiding a bit of yourself from God? 2. How would life improve if you were to give that part to Him? 3. How differently would you treat others if you gave that part to Him?



Goodness Is Not “Oh, My Goodness”
Carlos A. Quintana, Arlington, Texas, U.S.A.
Monday Testimony
John 14:9

“The glory of God is His character. While Moses was in the mount, earnestly interceding with God, he prayed, ‘I beseech thee, show me thy glory.’ In answer God declared, ‘I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.’ The glory of God—His character— was then revealed: ‘The Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, long suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty’ (exodus 33:18, 19; 34:6, 7). . . .

“In the story of the good Samaritan, Christ illustrates the nature of true religion.”

“Christ desires His followers to reveal in their lives this same character. In His intercessory prayer for His disciples He declared: ‘The glory [character] which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one; I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me’ (John 17:22, 23).”1

“The church is very precious in God’s sight. He values it, not for its external advantages, but for the sincere piety which distinguishes it from the world. He estimates it according to the growth of the members in the knowledge of Christ, according to their progress in spiritual experience.
“Christ hungers to receive from His vineyard the fruit of holiness and unselfishness. He looks for the principles of love and goodness. Not all the beauty of art can bear comparison with the beauty of temper and character to be revealed in those who are Christ’s representatives. It is the atmosphere of grace which surrounds the soul of the believer, the Holy Spirit working upon mind and heart, that makes him a savior of life unto life, and enables God to bless his work.”2
“In the story of the good Samaritan, Christ illustrates the nature of true religion. He shows that it consists not in systems, creeds, or rites, but in the performance of loving deeds, in bringing the greatest good to others, in genuine goodness.”3
____________
1. God’s Amazing Grace, p. 322.
2. Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 298.
3. The Desire of Ages, p. 497.



Doing What Is Right Because It Is Right
Timothy A. Whitley, Houston, Texas, U.S.A.
Tuesday Evidence
Eph. 2:19–22

“The man who attempts to keep the commandments of God from a sense of obligation merely—because he is required to do so—will never enter into the joy of obedience. He does not obey. . . . True obedience is the outworking of a principle within. It springs from the love of righteousness, the love of the law of God. The essence of all righteousness is loyalty to our redeemer. This will lead us to do right because it is right—because right doing is pleasing to God.”*

Your parents’ efforts to teach you to brush your teeth were not intended to stifle your freedom.

True respect cannot be commanded. It must be earned. likewise, true obedience cannot be compelled. Doing the right thing must come from a place where one knows that doing a particular thing is the right thing to do and is in the best interest of the “doer.” To get to that point requires the development of a critical precursor—trust.

Any parent of a small child faces a critical task—teaching the child to brush his or her teeth and teaching that child why brushing one’s teeth is a good thing. If a child doesn’t develop good oral hygiene early in his or her life, it’s hard to make up that ground later. Ideally, one day the child realizes that brushing his or her teeth is simply the right thing to do.

Ask yourself why you brush your teeth every day. I’m confident that the answer is not “because my parents told me to.” your parents’ efforts to teach you to brush your teeth were not intended to stifle your freedom but to ensure you had a mouthful of teeth well into your mature years.
Developing a good character is exactly the same transaction. your Father in heaven labors diligently to teach you what you should and shouldn’t do, not to stifle or control you, but to protect you and to transform you into something magnificent—a person who reflects His character and His beauty. When you trust that this is His one and only motive, this transformation can occur.

REACT
1. What are some other practical examples of doing what is right because it is right?
2. How can you use these examples to spread the message of Christ’s love? ____________
*Christ’s Object Lessons, pp. 97, 98.



Stop Trying to Be Good
Patricia Flores Sauza, Del Iztapalapa, Mexico
Wednesday How-to
Phil. 2:13

There is absolutely no human recipe that can help us to be good. Being good is simply not a part of our sinful human nature (Jer. 13:23; Rom. 3:10−12; 7:18−25). Many religious systems are based on the human effort to be good. This is dangerously appealing because we don’t have to give up control of our lives to any higher power. However, developing the fruit of goodness is a matter of allowing God’s Holy Spirit to work in us (Ezek. 11:19, 20). The secret lies in surrendering to the Holy Spirit. This surrendering requires faith. When you have faith in God, He can begin to develop His character in you. Then goodness will begin to grow in your heart. Following are some actions you can take that will help you to surrender your life to God:
There is a magnificent adventure waiting for you when you become clay in His hands.

Recognize your need. The world teaches us that we must rely on self to achieve success. However, as Christians, we need to admit that our sinful nature controls us more than we think. We cannot rely on ourselves to surrender to God. Dependence on Him is the solution. Make recognizing your need for Him your number one priority (1 John 3:4–7).

Maintain the connection. Following the Pray-Study-Obey-Share-Praise method is the way the Holy Spirit knows you are participating in the “nature” makeover. This is also the means He uses to help us nourish our faith (John 15:4).

Be honest with God. Being transformed into His image can be as upsetting as it can be exciting. Sometimes He takes us in directions we just don’t want to go in. Be honest with Him. Tell how you how feel about such times. after all, He is your best Friend (Psalms 77; 88:6, 9).

Give Him your all. your plans, ideas, projects, and dreams. There is a magnificent adventure waiting for you when you become clay in His hands (eph. 3:20, 21; Jer. 29:11).

REACT
1. What role does free will play if we give God control of lives in order to transform our inner nature?
2. God has given us all free will. So what should be our attitude toward those who do not practice goodness as we understand it?
3. Do laws that prohibit such things as euthanasia or abortion go against God’s gift of free will? Why, or why not?



A Twofold Mission
Miguel A. Lopez, Arlington, Texas, U.S.A.
Thursday Opinion
Ps. 14:3; Rom. 3:12

Many people in this world choose not to have anything to do with religion. They even question the effectiveness of the various religions and of the people who follow them. The fourth commandment of the Ten Commandments for ethical atheists states, “Thou Shalt NOT forget the atrocities committed in the name of God.”1 They base this commandment on the horrible deeds perpetrated during events such as the Inquisition and the Crusades. “How,” they ask, “can a loving God allow such atrocities?”

Being good is much more important than behaving well.

This makes me think of Psalm 14:3, “all have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one” (NIV). Have we totally failed to represent God’s true character and nature?

We need to remember at least two things:

1. “The strongest argument in favor of the gospel is a loving and lovable Christian.”2 It will not be our rhetoric or our theology but our lives that draw others to God. True religion helps us to be Christlike. True religion is the religion Jesus lived and taught, a religion in which being good is much more important than behaving well, a religion in which we are ambassadors for Christ and open letters that testify to His grace and love.

2. In a sense, the fourth commandment of atheists is right. We shouldn’t forget the atrocities committed in God’s name. We need to remember them so they are never repeated. Such violence discredits what we believe and the mission and work of Jesus, “who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good” (Titus 2:14, NIV).

The mission of being good is twofold. Being good positively impacts a world desperately in need of goodness and makes known the true nature of God, who above all else is love. It is through the Holy Spirit dwelling in our hearts that we will be transformed into truly good people. as the psalmist wrote so eloquently, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me” (Ps. 51:10, 11, NIV).

Don’t you think it is time for us to shake the world with our goodness? ____________

1. ethical atheist, “The Ten Commandments,” http://www.ethicalatheist.com/docs/ten_commandments .html (accessed December 2008).
2. The Ministry of Healing, p. 470.



Spiritual Cornucopias
Dan Solís, College Place, Washington, U.S.A.
Friday Exploration
2 Pet. 1:2–11

CONCLUDE
Goodness is not defined merely as correct behavior. There can be many explanations for correct behavior. One may act correctly out of purely selfish motivations. Some have acted correctly in order to qualify for an inheritance or to impress the parents of a romantic interest. Others may be good because outside restraints make it easier to behave well than to follow baser instincts. Whenever those restraints are removed, the true character of the person is then revealed, often with surprising, disappointing results. True goodness, however, overflows from a changed heart, a heart transformed by God. It is a change that occurs because the person has experienced God’s incomparable love.

CONSIDER
•Praying that God will develop in you the virtues mentioned in 2 Peter 1. Pray specifically for one virtue on each succeeding day of the week until you have focused on each one. ask God to make you a spiritual cornucopia.
•Taking a Sabbath afternoon walk in nature during which you list the ways in which God expresses His love for our world through His creation. Consider how you can reflect those divine attributes as you care for the corner of God’s world in which you live.
•listening to or singing Kelly Willard’s song “Willing Heart.” Contemplate what you need to do so that all obstacles to God’s work in your life will be removed and your heart of stone can be a heart overflowing with goodness.
•Interviewing a church or civic leader known for his or her goodness with the goal of ascertaining what motivates this person to do good deeds.
•Writing anonymously a series of encouraging notes to people whose acts of kindness have inspired you to be kind. analyzing the impact of a good deed directed toward another person. Contrast their demeanor/mood/attitude prior to and subsequent to the action.
•Drawing or sculpting a cornucopia containing at least seven different fruits. Discuss with a friend which fruit best illustrate the virtues named in 2 Peter 1.

CONNECT
Steps to Christ, chapter 9.
Billy Graham, chapters 14–17, The Holy Spirit (Nashville, Tenn.: Thomas Nel- son, 2000); rené Pache, chapter 9, The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit (Chicago: Moody, 1979).

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