As I am reading God’s Word this morning, I am filled with the thoughts of his goodness toward me. I have nothing purely “Good” in my flesh to offer the Lord or others, but the divine life within empowers me to share actions aligned with God’s nature. The choice is mine, because the One who is Good has provided me the ability to reflect his goodness. So, let’s think about that word, “goodness.”
Goodness has to do with God’s nature and character. God IS the standard of goodness; he is faithful, righteous, true, and just in all of his ways. He cannot be anything, but Good. God’s gaze is always upon his creation, so he is other-focused and seeks to extend his Good nature to all who will welcome his goodness. Remember, seven times in the creation biblical text God reveals the manifestation of his goodness to create new life, “God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very Good!” (Gen. 1:31). God still creates something Good out of nothing good. Praise his holy name!
There is no such thing as pure human goodness unless we have God as our Source and have invited him to be at the center of our lives. We have lost our original image of Good. God takes our brokenness, reveals Truth, and transforms us by his merciful goodness.
People can perform kind, compassionate acts, but we still remain broken from our original created image. Human beings, since the Fall and apart from God, are intrinsically self-serving and biblical goodness has to do with serving others with the character Fruit of God’s Spirit. Believers are recreated human beings who embrace God’s grace through faith, pursue his restoring goodness, and seek to manifest the divine nature in this earthly life in order to live for his glory.
In our passage today, Jesus schools a rich man about what is truly Good, by helping him see who his god really is…money. This man, like most human beings, thinks a few good actions is sufficient to be Good and inherit eternal life. However, when Jesus asks this man to sacrifice his god for The Good God, he walks away. We cannot make ourselves Good nor provide enough good actions to assure us of eternal life. There is only One Good enough to provide it for us and his name is Jesus!
Matthew 19:16-22 NLT The Rich Man
16 Someone came to Jesus with this question: “Teacher [Good Teacher], what good deed must I do to have eternal life?”
17 “Why ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. But to answer your question—if you want to receive eternal life, keep [continually] the commandments.”
18 “Which ones?” the man asked.
And Jesus replied: “‘You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. 19 Honor your father and mother. Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
20 “I’ve obeyed all these commandments,” the young man replied. “What else must I do?”
21 Jesus told him, “If you want to be perfect, go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
22 But when the young man heard this, he went away sad, for he had many possessions.
Prayer: Lord, you are our Good Father, Good Shepherd, and the Good News for the world. We believe your promise that your plans for us are Good and everything will work together for Good, because we love you and want your will. Help us to honor your commands and live in a way that reveals your goodness to those around us each day. In Jesus’ name. Amen.