Goodness

I actually had to look this word up in a dictionary. When I looked at it I thought, goodness could be open to many forms of interpretation. So according to Miriam-Webster, goodness means the quality or state of being good. So yeah, open to interpretation. Next, I looked up good and received "of a favorable character or tendency." Now that makes more sense to me. Goodness is being of a favorable character. It means you basically follow the rules set forth by your community, you don't lie, cheat, steal. You're not subject to an addiction or a bad habit, and you treat your fellow people with respect and mutual admiration. Essentially, having goodness in your life makes you a good person in the eyes of the Lord.

"And the Lord said, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion." Exodus 33:19

"Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." Psalm 23:6

"Set me free from my prison, that I may praise your name. Then the righteous will gather about me because of your goodness to me." Psalm 142:7

"His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness...For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge;" 2 Peter 1:3,5

Goodness comes from the Lord. It is one of the characters of God, he himself is full of goodness, and he wants us to be more like him and full of his goodness. When I think about goodness, I think not only of the outward appearance of goodness, but the inner part as well. I think that is the goodness most difficult to attain. It's easy to follow the rules, but not so easy to control some your thoughts about those rules or the people who make them. How many times do we think bad thoughts about another person? I know I am guilty of it all the time. That is an area of my life that I would like to change. I would like to stop thinking poorly of people, and think positively. With some work, and a little help from above, I pray that my inner goodness will show through in my outer goodness.

"But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!" Galations 5:22,23