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God could have made a completely utilitarian creation. He could have made things a lot “uglier” and they would have worked “fine” but that isn’t what He did! He created a world that is wonderful to see and hear and be a part of.
God is righteous and good and we are not… yet that is what we are called to be. Psalm 46 – God is good not because He causes good things to happen in our lives, but because in the midst of the storms of life God comes closer to us than the storm could ever be. It isn’t always that the storm is calmed, but that God is right there close beside us as we go through it.
What does goodness mean in our lives?
- Be honest about your motives. We are good at rationalizing the reasons why we do things and making them seem better than they are.
- Be a blessing without a reason. The point isn’t that we shouldn’t do nice things for our friends and family, but don’t just stop there! The point of following Jesus is not to just do the bare minimum.
- Love the unloved. Figuring out a way to minister to people’s needs in a way that doesn’t make them feel less.
- Part of being good is crucifying self. Our human nature gets in the way of blessing others.
- Galatians 6:9 – Be decisive – often if you wait the opportunity will be wasted.
- Stand for the right.
- Be willing to be misunderstood.
- Goodness should be private. If we are keeping the things that we do for others private and secret we won’t be as concerned about our motives.
We understand that God is good. Our goal is to be like Him, striving to bless others and not ourselves.
Scriptures – Psalm 46, Luke 7:1-10, Luke 10