Peeled | Being Good
Saturday, June 15th 2019
Goodness without God, isn’t really goodness at all!
Genesis 1:31 NLT
Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good! And evening passed and morning came, marking the sixth day.
Genesis 1:27 ESV
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
Goodness without God, isn’t really goodness at all!
Pursue good for the life within me!
Romans 3:10-12 NLT
As it is written:“There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”
Luke 18:19 NIV
“Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good–except God alone.”
Romans 12:2 NLT
Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
Do good in the world around me!
Micah 6:8 ESV
He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
Redeem good in the people beside me!
2 Corinthians 5:16-20 NLT
So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”
Goodness is not just a character trait about God, it is the very essence of the character of God.
The goodness of God is the origin of the goodness in us!
Biblical goodness is both attitude and action.
Attitude: Ps 33:4-5: Earth is full of the goodness of God – if you are a follower of Christ you should be constantly looking for the good in our world…to often we are complaining, blogging, facebooking, about the evil in our world. In order for you to truly allow the Holy Spirit to begin the process of growing goodness in you, you’ve got to have an attitude change. You’ve got to start seeing the goodness and the redeeming qualities within our world.
Action: Luke 6:27-28: Do good to those who hate, revile, are your enemies. We are to do good things, not because people deserve it, but because they need it. People need to see God’s goodness, His image, shine through you. Biblical goodness is always done for the benefit of others, it’s about the interaction and the reaction we have to the world around us.
If you don’t know God you can’t know what is really good! God is the cornerstone, originator, foundation, catalyst for all that is good in this world. Knowing God helps you establish good relationships…cultivate good habits…build good lives…raise good kids…realize good dreams!
Pursuing good for the life within you starts with a pursuit of God, because Goodness without God, isn’t really goodness at all!
Do justice: All humans are equal in the sight of God, and God says that we are to treat everyone with dignity, respect, and fairness no matter who you are! You refuse to take advantage of someone just because they are vulnerable or weaker. Treating others as image bearers of God, with the God-given dignity they deserve. Doesn’t just stop there, it actually also refers to seeking out vulnerable people who are having injustice done to them, and coming alongside and helping them.
Love kindness: Hunter talked last week about Kindness and that God’s kindness to us, has to be reflected towards others, as an act of thankfulness for God’s kindness to us.
Walk humbly: It’s easy to start doing good, then others start to praise or laud your efforts and you begin to believe your own press, God says, always remember it’s not about you. You don’t do this for your glory, but for mine!
Doing good in the world around me means I care about what God cares about, and then I do something about it. Because Goodness without God, isn’t really goodness at all!
Quote in an article from unknown source: our churches should be the most reconciling, peaceable, relaxed, happy places in town. We are so open to enemies, so meek in the face of insults and injuries, so forgiving toward the undeserving — if we do make people angry, let this be the reason. We refuse to join in selfish battles, we follow a higher call, a call to be the peacemakers.
If we are followers of Christ, it is essential for us to be actively seeking to redeem the good in the people beside us, because we want them to know God, because Goodness without God, isn’t really goodness at all!