Fruit of the Spirit, Part Six: Goodness that Inspires Moral Courage

“But the fruit of the Spirit [the result of His presence within us] is love [unselfish concern for others], joy, [inner] peace, patience [not the ability to wait, but how we act while waiting], kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature together with its passions and appetites. If we [claim to] live by the [Holy] Spirit, we must also walk by the Spirit [with personal integrity, godly character, and moral courage—our conduct empowered by the Holy Spirit]. We must not become conceited, challenging or provoking one another, envying one another.”(Galatians 5:22-26, AMP)

“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is recognized and judged by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you speak good things when you are evil? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. The good man, from his [inner] good treasure, brings out good things; and the evil man, from his [inner] evil treasure, brings out evil things.” (Matthew 12:33-35, AMP)

So what makes goodness different from kindness? Aren’t they the same thing? I used to feel the same way. The short answer is, they are similar but not the same. In Galatians, the Greek word for kindness is chrestotes, like we learned last week, but goodness is derived from the word, agathosune. Where kindness means serviceable or helpful in a tender, concerned way, goodness means “virtue equipped at any point,” or a more righteous integrity.

So, where kindness merely offers help out of generosity, goodness takes it a step further and acts from an upright spirit. Goodness goes beyond empathy and even has the ability to wisely rebuke or correct someone back into God-glorifying lifestyle. One good example of the differentiation I saw was that Jesus showed goodness when He cleansed the temple and drove out the merchants that had turned the temple courts into a bazaar (Matthew 21), and showed kindness when He encountered the sinful woman that anointed his feet with oil in Luke 7. 

When the woman knelt before Jesus, anointed His feet with oil, and washed them with her tears, Jesus turned in His kindness, treated her with respect in front of Simon– the Pharisee who knew her sinful past and judged her for it– and forgave her of her sins. He loved this woman enough to recognize her pain, see her humble heart, and reach out to her in kindness to forgive her of the past that disqualified her from the consideration of the Pharisee.

And yet, in Matthew 21, we see that Jesus acted in what might be construed as an aggressive manner– flipping tables, driving out buyers and sellers, and releasing the animals they were selling as burnt offerings for the people trying to worship in the temple. You see, goodness does not always have to be meek and mild. Goodness is also a righteous desire to see things operating in a God-glorifying way. Jesus, in His goodness, set the temple right, knowing that scripture says the Lord’s house would be a place of prayer, not a den of robbers. And by clearing out the enterprising merchants who were manipulating the desire of the people to come and worship to make a profit, Jesus made room for the lame and blind at the gates to be healed and the people the opportunity to worship without being swindled by con men hoping to make a quick buck. 

Jesus’ goodness is not just being nice or agreeable, or kindness on steroids. At times, goodness goes beyond kindness and acts in a way that reforms or corrects us back to the will and intention of God the Father. Is it not good for a plant or a vine to be pruned back? Doesn’t Jesus Himself say in John 15 that the fruitless branches are cut off and thrown away for the benefit of the fruitful parts? When we model goodness as a Fruit of the Spirit, it’s not only because God is good because He is gentle and righteous. It is also because we know that God has gone through the pains of correcting us in His goodness to remain in the faith. 

And that doesn’t mean that when we correct, we do so out of arrogance or superiority. No, in order to rebuke or edify like Christ, we have to operate out of some of the other Fruits of the Spirit: out of love, or maybe gentleness, or even self control. To correct out of love means that you speak from a place of knowing what it is to act outside of God’s will and yet be offered grace anyway. It isn’t meant to make someone feel small or shameful, but to convict them back in a righteous direction.

In a way, goodness speaks to that “moral courage” and “personal integrity” Galatians 5:25 is talking about above; that we would know God so thoroughly that we would know what He deems as good or not good. I included that verse from Matthew 12 to help remind us that the only way the fruit can be good is if the tree is already good. We can’t produce good fruit if our hearts are full of evil, just like we can’t produce evil if our hearts are full of God’s goodness. If we seek to do good and exhibit God’s goodness as a Fruit, then we have to make sure that our hearts are already walking in tandem with the God who is the root of all goodness.

If you’ve ever read 2 Chronicles, you know that there were a lot of kings in Israel and Judah that ranged from complacent to evil, but in chapter 29, we see a good king, Hezekiah, who made it his purpose to correct his people back into a God-glorifying lifestyle again. He reopened the temple, cleansed it, and recommitted himself and the people he was ruling over back to God. It was out of Hezekiah’s love for God that he acted in a way that made him a good king to his people.

And it should be just the same for us. If we love God, we should steward the things He’s given us in a way that honors Him. If we endeavor to make our houses, families, ministries, jobs, hobbies, even our very lives into something that glorifies God out of the simple fact that we love Him, then the goodness of God’s Spirit will be seen as abundant fruit all the days of our lives.

Today, maybe it’s something small. Maybe you recommit your life to the Lord and renew your passion for making your life point to the goodness He has shown you. Maybe you reach out to a friend, your significant other, a family member, or your own kids and invite them to join you, asking them to keep you accountable to keep that passion alive. It means you might have to clean house on a few things, driving stuff out of your life that has been in residence in your heart for a long time. Ask God to show you those things so that you can live a life with more personal integrity and moral courage. Remember: We can’t produce good things until we, ourselves, are good. That means we may have to remove those triggers in our lives that drive us away from that goodness.

Fixing the branch means fixing the fruit. Reforming our hearts means stepping back into His presence, where Jesus can conform us into something more like Him. The more we conform, the more fruitful we are. It doesn’t come without a price, friend, but the fruit is worth it so that God can be honored by it.