"How great is Your goodness..."
Psalm 31:19
The third value that I chose out of the provided list was goodness. I don't believe I've ever really talked about goodness in my blog before, which is good. I find that it's hard to write about new things these days, because I've written about so many different topics at this point of my blogging life. Anyways, goodness is a bit hard to define. At it's most basic definition, it means being good. What does being good entail? The word "good" can mean desirable, advantageous, or morally right. I think that when we talk about goodness in the sense of it being a value, it refers to being morally right.
Goodness is different from kindness or niceness. The terms "kindness" and "niceness" generally mean someone is pleasing to be around. Nice people make you feel better about yourselves, and they never try to stir up trouble. I believe goodness has an element of kindness in it, but not always so. Someone who displays goodness does good to others, but this does not mean they will be liked for it. As mentioned earlier, goodness refers to moral correctness. One who is good is one who does what is right. They do things for the good of others, even if it means that they won't be appreciated or liked because of it.
I often talk about how people inherently are not good, and are all sinful. This makes it all the more important for us to display goodness in our lives. The obvious question is- how can we have goodness if we by nature are not good? We have to be changed. I wrote about this in my last post which solidifies my reasoning for choosing change as one of my key values. We have to allow God to change us before we display goodness in our lives.
You may be wondering, "wait a minute, does this mean we cannot have goodness without being changed? Aren't there non-believers who display goodness? Yes, there are many people who display elements of goodness in their lives. What is important to realize is why they do good things. Most of the time, people will do good to others to be liked by them. Their main goal is to be liked, and because of this they often do not correct others. Many people believe that goodness is an important quality, but they don't realize the full extent of what that means.
So what is the full extent of goodness? How can we learn it? The answer is to look at Jesus. Jesus was our Good Teacher and Good Shepard. On His life on earth, He gave us the greatest examples of goodness. He healed the sick, drove out demons, and taught the crowds. All these things the people liked; but He also rebuked the Pharisees and ate with sinners. When Jesus did those things, many people did not accept Him, and they ultimately nailed Him to a cross. Even when the people hated Jesus, He still did what was good for them. This kind of lifestyle is not easy, but it is what Jesus calls us to do. Let's pray that we can have true goodness in our lives.
-Smart
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